Library  of 
Muffh    T.    Lefler 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 


From  the  Library  of 
Hugh  Talmage  Lefler 


A  gift  of  his  sons 

Hugh  Talmage  Lefler,  Jr. 

and 

Charles  Deems  Lefler 

CB  /  Bi478R  /  C.2 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00016884926 


it^ 


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V 


AMERICAN   CRISIS   BIOGRAPHIES 

Edited  by 

Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer,  Ph.  D. 


^be  Hmerlcan  Cvme  BiOQrapbiee 

Edited  by  Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer,  Ph.D.  With  the 
counsel  and  advice  of  Professor  John  B.  McMaster,  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Each  i2mo,  cloth,  with  frontispiece  portrait.  Price 
$1.25  net;  by  mail,  $1.37. 

These  biographies  will  constitute  a  complete  and  comprehensive 
history  of  the  great  American  sectional  struggle  in  the  form  of  readable 
and  authoritative  biography.  The  editor  has  enlisted  the  co-operation 
of  many  competent  writers,  as  will  be  noted  from  the  list  given  below. 
An  interesting  feature  of  the  undertaking  is  that  the  series  is  to  be  im- 
partial, Southern  writers  having  been  assigned  to  Southern  subjects  and 
Northern  writers  to  Northern  subjects,  but  all  will  belong  to  the  younger 
generation  of  writers,  thus  assuring  freedom  from  any  suspicion  of  war- 
time prejudice.  The  Civil  War  will  not  be  treated  as  a  rebellion,  but  as 
the  great  event  in  the  history  of  our  nation,  which,  after  forty  years,  it 
is  now  clearly  recognized  to  have  been. 

Now  ready : 
Abraham  Lincoln.     By  Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer. 
Thomas  H.  Benton.     By  Joseph  M.  Rogers. 

In  preparation : 
William  T.  Sherman.     By  Edward  Robins. 
John  C.  Calhoun.     By  Gaillard  Hunt. 
Daniel  Webster.     By  Prof.  C.  H.  Van  Tyne. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens.     By  Louis  Pendleton. 
John  Quincy  Adams.     By  Brooks  Adams. 
John  Brown.     By  W.  E.  Burghardt  Dubois. 
William  Lloyd  Garrison.      By  Lindsay  Swift. 
Charles  Sumner.     By  Prof.  Franklin  S.  Edmonds. 
William  H.  Seward.     By  Edward  Everett  Hale,  Jr. 
Frederick  Douglass.     By  Booker  T.  Washington. 
Jefferson  Davis.     By  Prof.  W.  E.  Dodd. 
Robert  E.  Lee.     By  Guy  Carleton  Lee. 
David  G.  Farragut.      By  John  R.  Spears. 
Judah  P.  Benjamin.      By  Pierce  Butler. 
Thaddeus  Stevens.      By  Prof.  J.  A.  Woodburn. 
Andrew  Johnson.      By  Waddy  Thompson. 


To  be  followed  by: 
Henry  Clay 
Stephen  A.  Douglas 
U.  S.  Grant 

"  Stonewall ' 


Edwin  M.  Stanton 
Jay  Cooke 
W^ade  Hampton 
Jackson 


AMERICAN  CRISIS  BIOGRAPHIES 


Thomas  H.  Benton 


by 

JOSEPH  M.  ROGERS 

Author  of   "  The  True  Henry  Clay,"  etc. 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1905,  by 

George  W.  Jacobs  &  Company 

Ihiblished  February^  igos 


CONTENTS 


Chronology       .        .        .        . 

7 

I. 

Youth  and  Education 

.       15 

II. 

Early  Political  Interests  in 

Mis- 

SOURI          .         .         .         . 

.       28 

III. 

Entry  into  the  Senate    . 

.       39 

IV. 

Finding  His  Place    . 

.       55 

V. 

Jackson's  Eight  Arm 

.       68 

VI. 

The  War  on  Nullification 

.     Ill 

VII. 

The  National  Bank 

.     134 

VIII. 

''Old  Bullion" 

.     169 

IX. 

The  Oregon  Question 

.     194 

X. 

Slavery  Agitation  and  Texas 

5        .     212 

XI. 

The  War  with  Mexico     . 

.     231 

XII. 

The  Compromises  of  1850 

.     245 

XIII. 

Missouri  Eepudiates  Benton 

.     269 

XIV. 

Friendships  and  Characters 

TICS  .     283 

XV. 

Orator  and  Author 

.     322 

XVI. 

The  End     .... 

.     343 

Bibliography    . 

.     350 

Index          .... 

.     352 

CHRONOLOGY 

1782— Thomas  H.  Benton  born  at  Hillsborough,  N.  C,  March 
14th. 

1790— Death  of  his  father. 

1798— Removes  with  his  mother  to  the  wilderness  of  Tennessee 
to  become  a  cotton  planter. 

1811— Elected  a  member  of  the  Tennessee  legislature. 

1811— Admitted  to  the  bar  in  Tennessee. 

1812— Colonel  of  militia,  but  no  active  service. 

1813— Brawl  with  Andrew  Jackson. 

1813— Appointed  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  regular  army.  No 
active  service. 

1815 — Removes  to  St.  Louis  to  continue  the  practice  of  the  law 
and  edit  the  3Iissouri  Enquirer, 

1817_Duel  with  Lucas  in  which  latter  was  killed. 

1820— Elected  United  States  Senator  after  having  aided  at 
Washington  in  securing  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

1821— Marries  Elizabeth  McDowell  of  Virginia,  and  takes  his 
seat  in  the  Senate. 

1824— Supports  first  Clay  and  then  Jackson  for  the  Presidency. 

1826— Appears  as  the  mutual  friend  of  Clay  and  Randolph  in 
their  bloodless  duel. 

1828— Supports  Jackson  for  the  Presidency. 

1831— Attacks  the  Whig  measure  renewing  the  charter  of  the 
National  Bank,  and  declares  for  gold  as  a  standard  of 
values. 


8  CHEO:NrOLOGY 

1832 — Unsuccessfully  fights  recharter,  but  prepares  the  way  for 
Jackson's  veto  of  the  bill. 

1833 — Refuses  to  support  the  Compromises  and  conciliate  the 

nullifiers. 

1834 — Secures  the  passage  of  the  bill  establishing  the  specie 
standard. 

1837 — Secures  passage  of  resolutions  expunging  from  the  records 
of  the  Senate  the  vote  of  censure  passed  upon  President 
Jackson. 

1842— Fights  Clay's  new  bank  bill. 

1843 — Narrowly  escapes  death  in  the  explosion  on  board  the 
Princeton. 

1845 — Opposes  the  immediate  annexation  of  Texas  as  tending 
to  reopen  the  slavery  question  and  is  tricked  by  Tyler. 

1847 — Rejection  of  bill  to  make  Benton  lieutenant-general  and 
the  principal  commander  in  the  Mexican  war. 

1850— Opposes  the  great  compromises. 

1850 — Defeated  for  his  sixth  terra  in  the  Senate  because  of  his 
refusal  to  bow  the  knee  to  the  slaveholders  in  Missouri. 

1851 — Closes  his  career  in  the  Senate  after  thirty  years  of  use- 
fulness. 

1852 — Elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  from  a  St.  Louis 
district. 

1854 — Defeated  for  relection  to  the  House  because  he  would  not 
sacrifice  his  principles  to  the  Know  Nothings.  Death  of 
Mrs.  Benton. 

1856 — Defeated  as  an  independent  candidate  for  governor  of 
Missouri. 

1858 — Dies  at  Washington  from  cancer,  April  10. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  fame  of  Thomas  H.   Benton  has  suffered 
almost  total  eclipse.     This  is  the  more  to  be  regret- 
ted because  he  was  one  of  our  most  substantial 
statesmen,  in  merit  and  achievement  outstripping 
many  whose  names  are  more  familiar.     He  sat  for 
thirty  consecutive  years  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
a  record  never  reached  before  the  Civil  War,  and 
since  then  seldom  surpassed.     Much  of  this  time 
he  was  a  commanding  figure,  sometimes  dominant 
and  always  useful.     Over  all  of  his  contemporaries 
he  had  the  advantage  of  a  clearer  view  of  the  great 
problems  of  the  age,  because  unvexed  by  ambition  : 
in  uprightness  and  purity  of  character  he  was  ex- 
celled by  none.     The  names  of  Clay,  Webster  and 
Calhoun  are  household  words  and  their  careers  are 
well  known.     Benton  served  longer  than  any  one  of 
them,  is  responsible  for  more  sound  legislation  than 
all  of  them  put  together,  yet  only  the  student  of 
history  knows  anything  about  him. 

This  is  due  to  a  number  of  causes.     The  Senate 
in  his  day  was  not  a  forum  where  enduring  fame 


10  INTEODUCTION 

was  created,  unless  by  that  exceptional  oratory 
which  he  did  not  possess.  He  spoke  often  and  on 
nearly  every  question  of  the  day,  but  his  words  are 
no  longer  remembered.  The  great  triumvirate  al- 
ready mentioned  owe  their  reputations  less  to  actual 
work  in  the  Senate  than  to  outside  political  activ- 
ity, each  striving  long  and  unsuccessfully  for  the 
presidency.  More  potent  is  the  fact  that  Benton 
died  just  before  the  Civil  War.  That  great  conflict 
stands  as  a  barrier  across  the  history  of  the  country. 
It  brought  more  or  less  enduring  fame  to  some  war- 
riors and  civilians,  but  shut  out  forever  many  sound 
statesmen.  Benton  died  fighting  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Union  :  had  he  lived  five  years  longer 
he  must  have  become  still  more  conspicuous  and 
have  remained  to  fame  as  one  of  the  most  striking 
figures  in  our  national  life.  His  political  career 
began  with  the  passage  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
and  practically  closed  with  its  repeal.  He  ever 
denied  that  there  was  any  cause  for  civil  war,  and 
gave  up  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  almost  as  dear  to 
him  as  life  itself,  because  he  would  not  bow  the 
knee  to  the  slaveholding  oligarchy  which  had 
finally  gained  political  control  of  his  beloved  Mis- 
souri. One  word  would  have  saved  that  seat  and 
prolonged  his  life,  but  he  would  not  utter  it.     He 


INTEODUCTION  11 

was  the  first  conspicuous  martyr  to  the  Union 
cause. 

It  is  to  the  extraordinary  career  of  this  man  that 
these  pages  are  dedicated.  No  one  can  have  a  cor- 
rect perspective  of  the  history  of  the  country  with- 
out some  appreciation  of  the  position  of  this  un- 
compromising advocate  of  the  Union  during  the 
thirty  years'  growth  of  the  slavery  issue  in  politics. 
Webster  and  Clay  were  compromisers  seemingly  for 
the  sake  of  preferment.  Calhoun  was  the  arch-nul- 
lifier.  Benton  was  a  bulwark  of  uncompromising 
unionism  from  a  slave  state  for  almost  forty  years, 
and  when  he  died  the  nation  lost  one  of  its  truest 
servants,  one  of  its  best  men. 

It  would  be  idle  to  impute  perfection  to  Benton. 
He  was  exceedingly  human  and  had  many  defects. 
He  was  not  a  brilliant  genius  but,  what  was  better, 
a  sound  statesman.  His  abilities  were  conspicuous 
and  he  was  offered  many  positions  in  the  Cabinet, 
in  the  diplomatic  corps  and  elsewhere,  but  he  re- 
fused them  all.  The  only  place  he  coveted  was  at 
the  head  of  the  army  for  which  he  was  thrice 
scheduled,  but  fortunately  the  post  was  never  be- 
stowed upon  him.  Imperfectly  educated  in  the 
schools,  by  ceaseless  industry  he  became  a  widely 
read  scholar,  though  somewhat  inclined  to  pedantry. 


12  INTEODUCTION 

He  had  tremendous  passions  j  in  his  youth  he  en- 
gaged in  brawls  and  in  early  manhood  killed  his 
antagonist  in  a  duel,  an  event  which  marked  a 
change  in  his  life.  It  has  been  common  to  speak 
of  him  as  a  AYestern  statesman,  indicating  that  his 
sectionalism  limited  the  range  of  his  views  and  ac- 
tivities. He  is  so  reckoned  by  writers  who  speak 
of  Clay  and  Webster  as  national  statesmen.  This 
is  a  grave  mistake.  Much  of  the  legislation  origi- 
nated or  endorsed  by  these  two  giants  was  either 
sectional  or  transitory.  Benton  was  more  truly  a 
national  legislator.  His  nickname,  ^ '  Old  Bullion, '  ^ 
stamps  him  as  the  father  of  the  sound  currency  sys- 
tem of  this  country,  while  his  land  policy  was  more 
truly  national  than  that  of  some  of  his  opponents, , 
as  will  develop  later  in  these  pages. 

These  introductory  words  are  written  to  stimulate 
the  interest  of  the  untutored  reader  who  may  think 
it  hardly  possible  that  Benton  is  worthy  of  study. 
As  the  series  of  biographies,  of  which  this  is  one, 
is  to  deal  with  the  men  who  first  and  last  figured  in 
the  great  conflict  over  African  slavery  we  may  say 
here,  what  the  following  pages  are  expected  to 
demonstrate,  that  Benton  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant  factors  in  the  contest.  ^  Those  who  give 
Clay  unstinted  praise  for  his  love  of  the  Union — so 


IKTEODUCTIOK  13 

great  that  his  dead  bones  kept  Kentucky  from  se- 
cession,— seem  to  forget  that  in  Missouri  Benton, 
though  dead,  also  kept  his  state  in  the  Union  at  a 
most  perilous  time.  The  loss  of  Missouri  in  1861 
would  have  been  an  almost  fatal  blow  to  the  Union. 
That  it  was  finally  preserved  was  due  in  no  small 
measure  to  the  bitter  war  that  Benton  waged  so 
long  against  disunionists,  and  though  his  personal 
fortunes  and  his  life  were  swept  away  in  the  contest 
before  the  clash  of  arms,  his  spirit  survived  to 
conquer. 

Lastly  it  should  not  be  forgotten  at  a  time  when 
the  nation  has  so  recently  celebrated  the  centennial 
of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  that  Benton  was  the  first 
as  he  was  the  greatest  of  the  statesmen  that  have 
arisen  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  that  the  devel- 
opment of  the  Purchase,  the  acquisition  of  the 
Pacific  slope  and  the  construction  of  the  first  trans- 
continental railway  are  due  more  to  his  influence, 
than  to  that  of  any  other  single  man. 


THOMAS  H.  BENTON 


CHAPTEE  I 

YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION 

Even  if  interesting  it  would  be  foreign  to  the 
purpose  of  this  work  to  dwell  long  on  the  youth  of 
Thomas  H.  Benton.  It  was  not  different  from  that 
of  thousands  of  other  men  in  an  age  which  was 
crude  as  to  civilization,  but  potent  in  building  up 
masterful  character.  Of  Benton^  s  ancestry,  on  his 
father's  side,  little  is  known.  We  shall  see  later 
how  under  unusual  circumstances  John  Eandolph 
furnished  him  with  a  crest  and  putative  family  tree 
establishing  his  connection  with  the  landed  gentry 
of  England.  But  Benton  cared  for  none  of  these 
things.  He  went  back  no  farther  than  his  grand- 
father, who  settled  in  IRorth  Carolina. 

His  father,  Jesse  Benton,  a  loyalist  in  the  Eevo- 
lution,  secretary  to  Governor  Tryon,  was  a  promi- 
nent lawyer  in  Hillsborough,  Orange  County,  North 


16  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

Carolina,  where  Thomas  was  born  March  14,  1782, 
the  eldest  of  a  family  of  eight  children.  Jesse 
Benton  who  was  a  man  of  unusual  scholarship, 
well-read  in  five  languages,  died  when  Thomas  was 
only  eight  years  old.  He  left  some  property  in 
what  is  now  North  Carolina,  but  his  chief  asset 
was  a  large  tract  in  Tennessee  (then  a  part  of  North 
Carolina),  whither  the  family  eight  years  later  re- 
moved. 

To  his  mother  Benton  always  gave  the  credit  of 
his  success  in  life,  and  in  so  far  as  it  could  be 
attributed  to  any  one  other  than  himself,  the  appre- 
ciation was  just.  She  was  born  Ann  Gooch,  of  a 
good  Virginia  family  and  was  a  remarkable  woman. 
She  was  a  Eoman  mother  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
term,  looking  upon  the  education  of  her  children 
as  the  prime  duty  of  her  life  and  nobly  carrying 
out  her  plans.  Perceiving  the  natural  abilities  of 
Thomas,  she  early  destined  him  for  a  public  career 
and  her  greatest  joy  in  later  years  was  to  see  him 
become  one  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  country. 
She  herself  long  remained  a  beautiful  woman  and 
Benton  was  very  proud  of  her.  No  sacrifice  for  her 
comfort  was  too  great,  and  in  her  great  age  she  truly 
said  that  no  mother  ever  had  a  more  devoted  son. 

Thomas,  who  at  eight  was  learning  Greek,  was 


YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION  17 

early  sent  to  a  grammar  school  and  for  a  time  to 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  a  feeble  institu- 
tion according  to  modern  standards  ;  but  before  he 
had  completed  the  course  the  family  removed  to 
the  wilderness  of  Tennessee  where  his  mother  be- 
lieved the  children  would  have  greater  opportunities 
in  life. 

The  ''Widow  Benton^ s  Settlement"  consisted  of 
3,000  acres,  and  a  claim  on  some  40,000  acres  in  the 
wilderness  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Nashville  on 
the  very  frontier  of  the  Indian  country  and  along 
the  great  war  trail  which  the  aborigines  followed  in 
war  paint  when  attacking  the  whites  or  other  native 
tribes.  In  those  days  pioneering  involved  rela- 
tively less  courage  and  self-sacrifice  than  now,  but 
at  best  the  task  was  a  severe  one  from  which  Mrs. 
Benton  never  flinched.  Her  settlement  was  made 
on  a  considerable  scale.  Slaves  cleared  the  forests, 
tilled  the  soil,  erected  the  household  dwellings,  a 
log  schoolhouse  and  a  rude  church  which  itinerant 
Methodist  clergymen  used  occasionally.  Mrs.  Ben- 
ton abandoned  the  Episcopal  for  the  Methodist 
Church,  which  almost  alone  kept  the  lamp  of  relig- 
ion burning  on  the  frontier.  Thomas  continued  his 
education  as  best  he  could,  reading  widely,  study- 
ing law  and  teaching. 


18  THOMAS  H.  BE:N"T0N 

Eesponsibilities  were  early  laid  on  his  shoulders. 
Soon  after  his  father  died,  his  mother  gave  him  one 
of  the  babies  and  told  him  he  must  be  a  father  to  it 
and  serve  as  the  head  of  the  family.  Eight  loyally 
did  he  carry  out  the  injunction.  He  was  devoted 
to  his  sisters  and  their  refining  influence  was  noted 
all  through  his  life.  In  his  old  age  his  grand- 
children one  evening  were  complaining  that  they 
could  not  sing  well  as  the  guitar  was  out  of  tune. 
The  septuagenarian  took  the  instrument,  tuned  it 
properly  and  handing  it  back,  said,  ''I  always  used 
to  play  and  sing  with  my  sisters  and  I  have  never 
forgotten  how."  He  was  passionately  fond  of 
music  and  missed  no  opportunity  to  hear  the  best 
singers  until  his  wife's  illness  led  him  to  give  up  all 
public  amusements. 

Five  of  the  eight  Benton  children  died  of  con- 
sumption. Thomas  was  supposed  to  be  certain  of 
the  same  fate,  but  at  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of 
1812  he  became  imbued  with  the  martial  spirit  and 
at  once  entered  upon  a  regimen  which  resulted  in 
complete  cure  and  which  is  so  close  to  that  recom- 
mended by  physicians  to-day  as  to  be  worth  re- 
peating:  ^^Open  air  night  and  day.  Abundant 
perspiration  from  steady  exercise.  Bathing  and 
rubbing  always,  if  possible,  in  sunshine.     Simple 


YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION  19 

food  regularly  taken  and  to  forget  yourself  in  some 
pursuit."  It  is  said  that  he  induced  many  to  follow 
this  regimen,  and  like  himself  they  were  cured  of  the 
disease. 

Cotton  planting  was  one  of  the  chief  industries 
of  Tennessee.  At  the  start  most  of  the  Benton  plan- 
tation was  devoted  to  this  produce,  as  was  customary 
at  that  time.  One  year  an  early  frost  ruined  the 
crop.  Never  thereafter  would  Benton  risk  all  his 
fields  in  one  staple,  and  labored  most  unsuccessfully 
to  get  his  neighbors  to  adopt  rotation. 

In  1807  he  wrote  to  a  friend  saying:  '^I  am 
become  a  right  man  of  business,  and  want  advance- 
ment wherever  it  can  be  found."  Just  why  he 
lacked  advancement  in  Tennessee  is  not  easily 
understood.  He  was  in  prosperous  circumstances, 
but  it  is  probable  that  he  preferred  law  to  planting, 
and  thought  Tennessee  a  poor  field  for  that  pro- 
fession. The  country  was  crude  and  litigation  not 
extensive,  while  there  were  already  at  Nashville 
several  prominent  lawyers. 

The  first  autobiographic  glimpse  we  get  of  him  is 
in  his  description  of  the  life  and  services  of  Jack- 
son.^   He  tells  us  he  was  seventeen  when  he  first 

'Thomas  H.  Benton,  "Thirty  Years'  View  of  the  United 
States  Senate,"  Vol.  L 


20  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

saw  sitting  on  the  bench  the  man  with  whose  for- 
tunes in  later  years  his  own  were  to  be  closely 
linked.  He  did  not  make  Jackson's  acquaintance 
until  the  latter  had  left  the  bench  and  Benton  was 
practicing  at  the  bar  to  which  he  was  admitted  in 
1811.  He  was  junior  counsel  in  a  case  involving  a 
friend  of  Jackson's,  and  freeing  his  man  was  warmly 
complimented  by  the  former  judge,  who  at  this  time 
lived  at  the  '' Hermitage"  and  supposed  himself 
retired  from  public  life.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
War  of  1812  Jackson  was  elected  major-general  of 
the  militia  by  one  majority.  On  what  small  things 
do  great  events  sometimes  depend.  Had  not  that 
one  vote  been  available  Jackson  might  have  died  a 
respected  planter,  known  as  a  man  who  had  once 
been  a  judge  and  an  Indian  fighter  and  for  nothing 
else  except  a  violent  temper.  His  ambition  for  ap- 
pointment to  a  post  in  the  regular  army  met  an 
unexpected  obstacle  when  Harrison  and  Winchester 
were  selected  from  the  West,  and  he  was  passed 
over  by  the  administration.  It  was  young  Benton 
who  suggested  to  Jackson  that  the  thing  to  do  was 
to  raise  a  brigade  and  practically  force  the  nation 
to  accept  it. 

Benton  had  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer  and  was 
vain  in  youth  and  even  afterward  of  his  composi- 


YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION  21 

tions.  It  occurred  to  him  that  it  would  be  a  good 
idea  for  Jackson  to  issue  to  the  troops  an  address, 
which  would  attract  the  attention  of  the  national 
authorities.  He  wrote  such  an  address  and  took  it 
to  Jackson  to  read  and  sign,  if  he  chose.  He  found 
the  doughty  general  by  the  kitchen  fire  with  his 
adopted  son,  less  than  two  years  old,  and  a  lamb 
between  his  knees.  Jackson  explained  to  his 
visitor  that  the  little  boy  had  cried  because  the 
lamb  was  out  in  the  wet,  so  he  had  brought  it  in 
and  they  were  having  a  sort  of  ''family  party." 
This  was  a  case  of  the  lamb  and  the  lion  lying  down 
together,  and  it  throws  a  side-light  on  the  character 
of  Jackson  which  is  interesting.  The  address  was 
signed,  Jackson  eventually  got  his  place  in  the 
service  and  Benton  was  for  a  time  his  aide-de- 
camp. 

Acting  upon  his  own  advice  Benton  also  raised  a 
regiment  and  among  his  corporals  was  a  long,  lank 
young  man  named  Sam  Houston  of  whom  the  country 
was  to  hear  much  and  who  was  the  colleague  and 
closest  friend  of  Benton  in  his  last  years.  It  was 
never  called  into  active  service,  much  to  his  regret, 
for  he  was  anxious  for  military  adventure,  and  to 
the  end  of  his  life  thought  he  would  have  made  a 
good  soldier,  outranking  both  Scott  and  Taylor. 


22  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

Later  on  in  the  War  of  1812  he  was  appointed  a 
lieutenant-colonel  in  the  regular  army  and  started 
for  Canada,  but  peace  came  too  soon  for  him  even 
to  see  a  battle. 

It  was  during  this  period  (September  4,  1813) 
that  he  came  into  collision  with  General  Jackson  in 
a  way  that  interrupted  their  friendly  relations  for 
many  years.  It  is  commonly  said  that  Benton 
fought  a  duel  with  Jackson,  but,  more  properly 
speaking,  the  affair  was  a  barroom  brawl.  Benton's 
brother  Jesse  had  been  involved  with  William 
(afterward  General)  Carroll  in  an  ' '  affair  of 
honor  "  in  which  Jackson  had  seconded  the  latter. 
In  the  angry  dispute  which  followed,  Thomas 
Benton,  though  then  serving  on  Jackson's  staff, 
espoused  his  brother's  cause  and  the  result  was  a 
fracas  involving  the  four  above  mentioned  persons 
and  some  others.  Jackson  struck  Jesse  Benton 
with  his  horsewhip  and  was  promptly  shot  in  the 
shoulder.  In  the  general  melee  which  followed, 
knives,  pistols  and  clubs  were  used,  Jesse  Benton 
receiving  serious  wounds,  while  Thomas  was 
knocked  down-stairs.  It  was  long  before  the  ani- 
mosities thus  aroused  were  assuaged. 

After  the  War  Benton  resolved  to  remove  to  St. 
Louis,  which  was  then  a  small  village,  but  pros- 


YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION  23 

pects  seemed  brighter  there  than  in  Tennessee.  He 
had  already  served  a  term  in  the  legislature  of  the 
latter  state,  where  two  conspicuous  pieces  of  legis- 
lation were  placed  to  his  credit.'  He  reformed  the 
antiquated  judiciary  laws,  and  secured  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury  to  slaves.  The  latter  was  his  first 
public  act  in  relation  to  an  institution  with  which 
he  was  to  be  prominently  identified  for  the  next 
fifty  years. 

In  1815  he  arrived  in  St.  Louis,  opened  a  law 
office  and  began  the  publication  of  the  Missouri 
Enquirer,  which  became  a  bold  and  vigorous  news- 
paper. Now  thirty -three  years  old,  he  was  coura- 
geous, self-reliant,  and  well  equipped  for  the 
ordinary  practice  of  the  law.  As  land  titles  were  a 
conspicuous  subject  of  litigation,  owing  to  the  vague 
and  overlapping  grants  under  Spanish  and  French 
rule,  he  began  the  study  of  the  subject  with  that 
tireless  industry  and  talent  in  grasping  first  prin- 
ciples which  characterized  his  whole  life.  He  be- 
came an  accomplished  Spanish  scholar,  acquiring 
knowledge  which  was  of  great  value  to  him  later 
when  we  had  our  troubles  with  Mexico  ;  delved  into 
dusty  manuscripts ;  and  in  a  few  years  became  the 
leading  land  lawyer  of  the  state,  winning,  for  those 
'Benton's  "View," 


24  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

days,  enormous  fees  which  were  judiciously  in- 
vested, so  that  after  he  entered  public  life  and  gave 
up  absolutely  his  law  practice,  these  savings  were 
practically  all  he  had  aside  from  his  meagre  salary. 
In  youth  he  was  grave  in  demeanor,  though  quick 
to  perceive  and  resent  an  affront.  Owing  to  his 
mother's  request  he  never  used  liquor  or  tobacco 
and  did  not  gamble.  This  was  astonishing  in  an 
age  and  in  a  section  where  these  practices  were 
scarcely  looked  upon  as  vices.  His  reputation  for 
morals  and  good  breeding  was  blemished,  however, 
by  his  pugnacious  disposition.  An  aged  Georgian 
some  years  ago  stated  that  in  his  youth  in  Tennessee 
he  frequently  saw  Jackson  and  Benton  with  cocks 
under  their  arms  engaged  in  a  favorite  pastime  of 
that  region.  *  As  Benton  denies,  with  some  warmth, 
that  Jackson  ever  kept  game-cocks,  it  would  seem 
as  if  he  wished  to  deny  the  imputation  on  his  own 
account.  But  in  one  respect  he  was  notable. 
Dueling  was  much  in  vogue  in  those  days,  though 
declining  in  the  East  since  the  death  of  Alexander 
Hamilton.  Before  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate, 
Benton  never  failed  to  call  out  his  man  on  occasion 
or  respond  to  a  call  from  another.  The  climax  was 
reached  in  1817,  when  articles  in  his  newspaper  and 
1  Col.  A.  K.  McClure,  "  Recollections  of  Fifty  Years." 


YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION  25 

harangues  at  the  bar,  couched  in  that  vigorous, 
intemperate  language  for  which  he  later  became 
famous,  brought  on  a  duel  with  a  young  United 
States  District  Attorney  named  Charles  Lucas. 

According  to  the  latter,  the  affair  started  in  1816, 
in  a  case  before  a  jury  in  which  he  and  Benton 
were  on  opposite  sides.     The  lie  was  passed  and 
Benton  sent  a  challenge,  but  Lucas  declined  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  been  sustained  by  the  verdict 
of  the  jury  in  the  case,  and  he  did  not  consider  the 
controversy  as  coming  within  the  code.    Thereupon 
Benton  is  accused  of   using  very  bad    language 
about  Lucas  to  his  face  and  behind  his  back,  so  the 
young  man  finally   challenged.     They  fought  on 
Bloody  Island,  in  the  Mississippi,  at  ten  paces,  and 
both  were  wounded,  Lucas  severely,  Benton  very 
slightly.     Neither  party  was  satisfied,  and  Benton 
challenged  to  another  meeting.     This  was  arranged 
to  take  place  at  ten  feet.     The  men  fired  simulta- 
neously and  Lucas  fell.     Benton  then  expressed  re- 
gret and  asked  forgiveness,  to  which  Lucas  at  first 
replied,  "O  Benton,  you  have  persecuted  me  and 
murdered  me.     I  do  not  and  cannot  forgive  you." 
Later,  however,  when  nearly  gone,  Lucas  said,  ^'I 
can  forgive  you,   I  do  forgive  you,"   and  died. 
This  was  on  September  27,  1817,  the  blackest  day 


26  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

in  Benton's  life.  He  destroyed  all  the  papers  con- 
nected with  the  duel,  which  is  unfortunate,  as  those 
of  his  opponent  have  been  preserved.  Although 
we  may  well  suppose  that  he  had  some  provocation, 
his  propensity  for  fighting  was  such  as  to  make  the 
blame  rest  largely  on  his  shoulders,  especially  as  he 
was  ten  years  the  senior  of  Lucas.  The  fatal  out- 
come of  the  affair  had  such  an  effect  upon  him, 
however,  that  he  never  again  went  to  the  "field  of 
honor." 

It  can  be  said  that  Benton  was  loose  and  violent 
in  the  expression  of  his  views,  and  that  whatever 
his  virtues,  consideration  for  others  never  belonged 
in  his  repertory.  A  contemporary  and  friend  says 
that  as  editor  of  the  Missouri  Enquirer^  Benton  was 
''careless  in  the  use  of  strong  language,  and  was 
frequently  led  into  fierce  altercations  and  disputes  " 
because  he  thought  so  strongly  and  wrote  so  un- 
qualifiedly. These  traits  were  characteristic  of  him 
during  most  of  his  life.  He  was  incautious  and 
violent,  but  never  affected  by  ignoble  motives. 
Though  he  did  not  fight  again,  he  remained  a  be- 
liever in  the  code  and  was  esteemed  the  highest  au- 
thority on  those  complicated  points  of  honor  which 
it  involved.  Often  in  later  life  he  was  called  upon 
to  draw  some  fine  distinction  or  to  give  some  opin- 


YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION  27 

ion,  and  though  he  always  counseled  peace,  he  can- 
not be  said  to  have  done  very  much  to  overthrow 
the  institution  by  his  example,  however  much  he 
regretted  and  inveighed  against  the  evil. 

Hereafter  Benton's  career  was  to  be  national. 
His  equipment  was  naturally  good,  and  by  inces- 
sant study  of  literature,  men  and  events,  he  per- 
fected it  as  much  as  circumstances  would  allow. 
He  had  followed  the  development  of  American 
civilization  from  the  ''Old  North  State"  through 
Tennessee,  and  now  was  to  become  a  constructive 
statesman,  the  greatest  who  has  hailed  from  beyond 
the  borders  of  the  original  territory  of  the  United 
States. 


CHAPTEE  n 

EAELY  POLITICAL  INTERESTS  IN  MISSOURI 

The  unusual  condition  whereby  Missouri  was 
admitted  to  the  Union,  familiarly  known  as  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  was  the  first  act  of  Congress 
to  restrict  the  territorial  extension  of  African 
slavery  after  the  re-enactment  of  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  which  forever  prohibited  slavery  in  the 
Northwest  Territory.  It  long  remained  a  fruitful 
source  of  political  and  moral  contention  and  its 
repeal,  followed  by  a  declaration  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case  in  1857,  that  it  was 
from  the  beginning  unconstitutional,  was  an  active 
agent  in  bringing  on  the  Civil  War. 

The  history  of  Missouri  does  not  belong  to  this 
work,  but  a  glance  at  it  is  necessary  to  understand 
Thomas  H.  Benton.  The  country  was  originally 
explored  by  French  missionaries,  and  was  long  in 
control  of  Spain  or  France,  during  which  time  al- 
most the  sole  occupation  of  the  settlers  was  ti^ading 
in  furs  with  the  Indians.  After  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana,  St.  Louis,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 


EAELY  POLITICAL  INTEEESTS  29 

became  the  business  centre  for  the  upper  portion  of 
the  territory  and  in  the  divisions  which  followed, 
the    northern    section    was    gradually    advanced 
through  the  three  grades  of  territorial  rank  to  the 
highest.     The  population  increased  rapidly  after 
the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition,  sent  out  by  Presi- 
dent Jefferson  in  1803  to  secure  information  regard- 
ing  our    new  dominions.     These    explorers  were 
absent  for  two  years  on  a  journey  that  took  them 
to  the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  to  the  far 
northwest    "where    rolls  the  Oregon."     The    fur 
trade  grew  and  after  there  were  20,000  inhabitants, 
application  was  made  (in  1818)  for  the  admission 
of  Missouri  to  the  Union,  the  boundaries  being 
those  of  the  present  state  minus  the  extreme  north- 
western portion  called  the  Platte  Tract  which  was 
added  later.     The  early  administration  of  the  terri- 
tory had  been  not  altogether  happy  and  the  con- 
fusion over  land  titles  was  great,  until  Congress 
tardily  passed  a  law  to  confirm  the  French  and 
Spanish  grants.     This  action  was  taken    largely 
through  the  influence  of  Benton  after  he  reached 
the  Senate. 

There  was  delay  over  the  admission  of  the  state 
because  of  the  slavery  question.  In  the  North  the 
restriction  of  the  evil  was  becoming  both  a  moral 


30  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

and  a  political  issue.  How  many  statesmen  were 
moved  by  each  consideration  it  is  hard  to  deter- 
mine, though  it  cannot  be  denied  that  some  of  the 
most  violent  restrictionists  said  openly  that  it  was 
principally  a  matter  of  politics.  New  England  had 
fought  desperately  against  the  purchase  of  Louisi- 
ana because  it  seemed  to  involve  a  redistribution 
of  political  power.  There  was  undoubtedly  some 
growing  moral  opinion  on  the  extension  of  slavery, 
and  as  the  Ohio  line  was  fixed  as  its  upper  bound- 
ary by  the  Ordinance  of  1787  it  was  not  unnatural 
that  Northern  people  should  desire  to  see  that  line 
extended.  The  South' s  objection  was  that  it  got  so 
small  a  share  of  the  new  territory.  When  the  first 
Missouri  bill  appeared  in  Congress,  Tallmadge,  of 
New  York,  offered  in  the  House  an  amendment  as  a 
condition  precedent  to  admission  specifying  '4hat 
the  further  introduction  of  slavery  or  involuntary 
servitude  shall  be  prohibited,  except  for  crime,  etc., 
and  that  all  [negro]  children  born  within  the  state 
after  the  admission  thereof,  shall  be  free  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years."  This  amendment  passed 
the  House  and  was  rejected  by  the  Senate,  Congress 
adjourning  without  final  action.  The  subject  be- 
came a  dominating  one  in  politics.  Alabama  was 
admitted  with  slavery,  Arkansas  was  soon  orga- 


EAELY  POLITICAL  INTEEESTS  31 

uized  as  a  territory  with  slavery,  but  the  great 
struggle  centred  in  Missouri. 

When    Congress    met    in    December,    1820,    the 
House  still  favored  restriction  but  the  Senate  was 
against  it.     Some  of  the  ablest  statesmen  of  the  old 
Federalist  school  thought  the  proposed  restriction 
wrong,  particularly  as  slavery  already  existed  in 
Missouri,  and  was  rapidly  growing  stronger  :  the 
limitation    therefore  seemed  an  unnecessary  and 
onerous  hardship.     The  greater  portion  of  the  Mis- 
souri whites  came  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and 
other  slave  states.     In  1820  there  were  66,000  peo- 
ple in  the  state  of  whom  10, 000  were  slaves.     The 
local  sentiment  of  Missouri  which  in  earlier  times 
had  been  somewhat  favorable  to  restriction  changed 
under  Benton's  leadership  and  the  constitutional 
convention  was,   with   a    single    dissenting  vote, 
unanimous  for  unrestricted  slavery  and  went  far- 
ther, aiming  to  prevent  the  residence  of  free  negroes 
in  the  state.     Congress  was  now  greatly  embar- 
rassed.    At  this  time  there  was  an  exact  numerical 
balance  between  the  free  and  the  slave  states.     To 
admit  Maine  (formerly  a  part  of  Massachusetts)  as 
a    free    state    and   virtually  compel    Missouri    to 
abandon  slavery  meant  a  vital  disturbance  of  that 
perfect  balance  which    Southern    statesmen  were 


32  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

coming  to  think  more  and  more  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.  By  this  time  the  mask 
was  thrown  off,  and  the  restrictionists  openly 
avowed  that  their  object  was  political  power, 
though  there  were  many  earnest  anti-slavery  peo- 
ple both  in  and  out  of  Congress.  A  new  bill  to  ad- 
mit Missouri  was  rejected  by  the  House,  largely  on 
the  alleged  ground  that  the  provision  as  to  free 
negroes  was  unconstitutional,  and  partially  because 
many  members  objected  to  that  provision  which 
forbade  the  legislature  to  interfere  at  any  time  in 
the  matter  of  slavery.  This  last  provision  was  the 
work  of  Benton  who  was  equally  opposed  to  slav- 
ery agitation  and  slavery  extension,  as  he  repeated 
nearly  every  day  of  his  life  until  the  end.  As 
slavery  existed  in  Missouri  he  did  not  at  that  time 
care  to  interfere  with  it,  though  later  he  was  the 
leader  in  a  movement  for  gradual  emancipation. 

The  Senate  favored  admission  and  the  House  was 
still  against  it,  when  Henry  Clay  came  to  the  front 
with  his  first  compromise.  It  was  effected  solely 
through  his  agency,  though  curiously  enough  he 
always  denied  being  its  author.  He  offered  a  reso- 
lution in  the  House  for  the  appointment  of  a  select 
committee  to  confer  with  a  similar  one  from  the 
Senate  to  devise  a  plan  to  meet  the  existing  situ- 


EARLY  POLITICAL  INTERESTS  33 

ation.  These  committees  framed  a  compromise  by 
which  Missouri  was  admitted  with  slavery  on  con- 
dition that  the  restriction  as  to  free  negroes  should 
be  inoperative  (a  provision  which  was  in  any  event 
clearly  unconstitutional) ;  but  the  rule  was  made 
absolute  that  thereafter  no  state  created  out  of  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and 
thirty  minutes,  the  southern  boundary  of  Missouri, 
should  be  admitted  with  slavery.  As  a  corollary, 
Maine  was  admitted  as  a  free  state,  indeed  could 
have  been  admitted  on  no  other  terms,  as  Massa- 
chusetts would  have  allowed  her  to  depart  only  to 
preserve  the  balance  which  was  a  part  of  the 
political  program.  Slavery  agitation  in  politics 
was  then  hushed  for  a  decade.  It  can  be  said  that 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  which  was  to  a  great 
extent  the  work  of  Benton,  came  to  be  looked  upon 
by  the  people  with  the  same  sacredness  as  the 
Constitution  itself.  Every  attack  upon  it  met  with 
resistance  from  the  South  as  well  as  from  the  North. 
In  fact  it  was  a  Southern  measure  and  it  boded  ill 
for  the  South  that  it  was  later  willing  and  anxious 
to  repudiate  it. 

Thus  Missouri  entered  the  Union  under  very 
unusual  circumstances.  The  state  was  young,  re- 
sourceful and  growing  rapidly.     With  the  Missis- 


34  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

sippi  marking  one  border  and  the  Missouri  flowing 
across  it,  communication  by  natural  means  was 
more  ample  than  in  any  other  state.  Agriculture 
was  the  chief  industry  of  course,  but  fur  dealing  was 
still  profitable.  The  salt  springs  were  a  source  of 
wealth,  the  lead  mines  were  being  worked  largely, 
and  with  the  remarkable  increase  in  the  number  of 
steamboats,  commerce  was  growing  rapidly.  The 
outlook  for  the  future  was  therefore  excellent.  Few 
realize  what  an  enormous  state  in  wealth  and  popu- 
lation Missouri  is  to-day.  St.  Louis  and  Kansas 
City  are  well-known  marts,  but  with  the  people  as 
a  whole  there  is  ignorance  of  the  present  power  and 
riches  of  the  state  which  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition  has  only  partially  removed.  In  1900  its 
rank  was  fifth  in  population,  but  the  density  was 
only  about  one-half  that  of  Illinois  and  one-third 
that  of  I^ew  York.  Its  undeveloped  area  largely 
exceeds  that  of  any  of  the  states  which  outrank  it  in 
population,  and  its  total  area  is  greater  than  that 
of  any  one  of  them. 

When  Benton  arrived  in  St.  Louis  he  perceived 
the  potentialities  of  Missouri  and  saw  the  lines 
along  which  its  development  must  proceed.  He 
did  not  possess  the  ^'  glorious  gift  of  imagination '^ 
but  he  had  intelligence  and  was  confident  of  the 


EAELY  POLITICAL  INTEEESTS  35 

future.  He  threw  himself  into  the  fight  for  what 
seemed  to  him  the  correct  policy  on  slavery  with 
such  vigor  that  he  became  in  a  few  years  the 
dominating  power,  and  was  soon  chosen  one  of  the 
state's    first  senators,   receiving  four  re-elections. 

The  first  senatorial  contest  came  at  the  time  of  the 
application  of  the  state  for  admission  into  the 
Union  in  1818,  and  Benton,  who  was  a  newcomer, 
was  not  one  of  those  selected.  At  the  next  election, 
he  was  nominated  for  the  office  by  State  Senator 
Boone,  who  was  a  son  of  the  renowned  Daniel 
Boone,  the  pathfinder  of  Kentucky.  Daniel  had 
been  a  friend  of  Benton's  father  and  the  act  of  the 
younger  Boone  in  forwarding  his  interests  Benton 
never  forgot. 

It  was  not  until  the  last  moment,  however,  that 
Benton  expected  to  be  the  choice  of  the  legislature. 
He  had  been  in  the  state  for  so  short  a  time  that  his 
candidacy  was  not  taken  very  seriously  by  himself 
or  any  one  else.  Indeed,  his  election  was  in  a  way 
accidental.  The  legislature  met  in  a  tavern  in  St. 
Louis  in  1820  and  David  Barton,  the  most  popular 
man  in  the  state,  was  elected  on  the  first  ballot 
almost  without  opposition.  For  the  second  senator- 
ship  there  were  several  candidates,  the  most  promi- 
nent being  Judge  Lucas,  whose  son  had  been  killed 


36  THOMAS  H.  BENTOX 

by  Benton  in  the  duel  already  described.  After 
many  ballotings  which  led  to  no  result  and  in 
which  were  apparent  no  "  corrupt  intrigues,  manip- 
ulations and  slush  money"  according  to  an  eye- 
witness, Senator  Barton  was  consulted  as  to  his 
choice  of  a  colleague.  He  picked  out  Benton  who 
at  once  gained  a  commanding  lead,  but  still  for  a 
long  time  there  was  no  election.  One  friend  of 
Benton  was  sick,  but  even  if  he  were  present 
another  vote  was  needed.  The  last  man  to  be 
whipped  in  was  Marie  Philip  Le  Due,  who  had  said 
he  would  lose  his  right  arm  rather  than  vote  for 
Benton.  The  story,  as  told  in  Switzler's  "  History 
of  Missouri,"  ^  is  that  he  was  interested  for  himself 
and  others  in  the  old  French  and  Spanish  land 
grants.  It  was  shown  to  him  that  while  Lucas  by 
his  decisions  had  been  opposed  to  those  claims, 
Benton  as  the  most  successful  land  attorney  in  the 
territory  had  defended  them  ;  a  vote  for  Benton  was 
a  vote  for  the  grants.  This  decided  him  and  he 
changed  his  mind  and  kept  his  arm.  Before  the 
last  ballot  was  cast  four  stalwart  negroes  bore  the 
sick  member  already  mentioned  on  a  stretcher  to 
the  hall,  where  he  voted  for  Benton  and  was  carried 
back  to  die.  This  was  Benton's  only  serious  con- 
*  q.  V.  with  complete  account  of  duel  and  election. 


EAKLY  POLITICAL  INTEEESTS  37 

test  until  1850  when  he  lost  his  seat.  For  the  next 
four  terms  Missouri  re-elected  him  without  more 
than  a  formal  vote. 

Before  leaving  for  the  Senate  he  gave  up  all  his 
many  and  valuable  clients  involved  in  land  grants, 
for  he  was  determined  to  secure  legislation  on  the 
subject.  As  he  favored  the  validation  of  the  claims 
he  considered  it  improper  to  have  monetary  in- 
terest in  the  matter,  nor  would  he  recommend  to 
his  clients  any  lawyer  to  take  his  place  in  looking 
after  their  affairs.  In  this  as  in  every  matter 
affecting  his  financial  interests  he  was  throughout 
his  life  the  soul  of  honor.  He  might  have  become 
very  wealthy  without  the  slightest  infraction  of 
modern  moral  and  financial  standards,  as  his  infor- 
mation was  not  only  always  early  but  his  con- 
viction about  the  future  of  the  country  was  deeper 
than  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  Lest  it 
should  be  said  that  he  was  affected  in  any  way  by 
personal  interest  he  avoided  even  the  appearance 
of  evil. ' 

It  may  seem  extraordinary  that  a  stranger  should 

have  made  such  rapid  progress  as  had  Benton  in 

five  years.     Under  any  circumstances  he  must  have 

forged  rapidly  to  the  front  but  he  arrived  in  Mis- 

^  Roosevelt,  "  Life  of  Thomas  H.  Benton." 


38  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

souri  at  what  is  now  termed  the  ''psychological 
moment."  The  territory  was  yearning  for  state- 
hood, the  population  was  miscellaneous  in  every 
respect  and  was  rapidly  growing  and  needing 
leadership.  Through  his  newspaper,  on  the  stump 
and  at  the  bar  Benton  made  himself  felt  from  the 
start.  He  was  courageous,  self-reliant  and  ener- 
getic. He  had  a  sort  of  audacious  wit  and  a  not 
over-refined  satire  which  delighted  the  people  of  his 
section.  He  led  the  fight  for  unrestricted  slavery  at 
a  time  when  the  opposition  seemed  likely  to  win. 
His  personality  soon  began  to  dominate  the  politics 
of  the  whole  territory  and  his  election  as  a  senator 
was  a  just  reward  for  his  many  services. 


CHAPTEE  III 

ENTRY  INTO  THE  SENATE 

"When  in  1821  Benton  took  his  seat  in  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States,  he  was  thirty-nine  years 
of  age  and  had  passed  almost  exactly  one-half  the 
years  allotted  him.  Of  those  remaining,  thirty 
years  were  to  be  spent  in  the  Senate,  two  in  the 
House,  a  few  in  writing  and  his  last  days  in  an 
effort  to  stem  the  tide  of  disunion. 

Soon  after  his  election  he  married  Elizabeth 
McDowell,  who  was  of  a  distinguished  Virginia 
family.  Four  daughters  and  two  sons  were  born  of 
this  union. 

Upon  his  entry  into  the  Senate  he  assumed  the 
manners  of  the  older  time.  In  speech,  except  under 
excitement,  he  was  dignified;  in  deportment,  some- 
what stilted;  and  it  must  be  confessed  there  was  an 
air  of  egotism  about  him  that  was  not  entirely 
pleasing.  He  had  been  as  carefully  trained  as  cir- 
cumstances allowed,  and  his  sudden  rise  to  fame 
may  have  given  him  an  unduly  exalted  idea  of  his 
own  importance.  His  equipment  may  seem  de- 
fective, viewed  by  modern  standards,  but  he  was 


40  THOMAS  H.  BEXT0:N^ 

undoubtedly  above  the  intellectual  stature  of  most 
statesmen  from  the  West,  and  he  grew  steadily. 
His  industry  was  untiring.  He  devoted  the  hours 
which  others  spent  in  carousing,  to  the  study  of 
public  matters  until  he  became  a  mine  of  informa- 
tion and  his  practical  wisdom  was  almost  pro- 
verbial. He  represented  his  constituents  more  satis- 
factorily than  a  man  apparently  better  equipped. 
He  was  a  sound  lawyer,  and  although  he  assumed  an 
aristocratic  and,  after  a  time,  a  patronizing  air,  he 
was  on  the  whole  a  simple-hearted  man,  and  in 
after  years  many  coming  young  statesmen  owed  a 
great  deal  to  his  kindness. 

Much  of  the  time  for  a  year  before  he  was  per- 
mitted to  take  his  seat,  he  had  been  at  the  national 
capital,  and  was  thus  made  familiar  with  the  pecul- 
iar conditions  which  then  existed  in  national 
politics,  at  this  time  entering  upon  a  new  era. 
Monroe,  who  was  just  beginning  his  second  term, 
was  the  last  of  the  Eevolutionary  ''Fathers"  to  be 
President,  the  last  with  ambitions  in  that  direction. 
The  coming  group  of  statesmen  were  Americans  in 
the  sense  that  their  education  had  been  gained  under 
the  national  flag,  though  some  years  were  to  elapse 
before  one  born  an  American  citizen  should  be 
chosen  chief  magistrate. 


E:N^TRY  into  the  senate  41 

Monroe  entered  on  his  second  term  considerably 
embarrassed.  Three  members  of  his  cabinet  were 
candidates  for  the  succession  ;  John  Quincy  Adams, 
John  C.  Calhoun,  and  William  H.  Crawford.  He 
resolved  to  be  absolutely  neutral  and  carried  out 
this  policy  to  an  extraordinary  degree, — in  fact 
greatly  overdoing  the  matter  since  his  own  admin- 
istration was  interfered  with  by  the  rivalries  in  his 
ofiScial  family.  He  would  have  done  better  to  dis- 
miss them  all  and  let  them  settle  their  differences 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  public  service. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  the  natural  successor 
according  to  the  ethics  of  the  time,  which  made  the 
Secretary  of  State  a  president  in  waiting.  Every 
president  after  Washington  had  been  at  the  head  of 
the  department  of  foreign  affairs  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  elder  Adams.  The  younger  Adams  was 
the  best  equipped  man  of  the  three  by  reason  of  his 
experience  and  was  ambitious  for  promotion. 
From  the  age  of  fourteen  he  had  been  more  or  less 
active  in  the  public  service,  was  a  ripe  scholar  and 
a  sound  statesman.  Much  of  the  credit  of  Monroe's 
administration  was  due  to  his  successful  manage- 
ment of  foreign  affairs  at  a  time  when  they  were 
peculiarly  difficult. 

Calhoun,  as  Secretary  of  War,  was  still  young 


42  THOMAS  H.  BEKTON 

and  a  national  figure.  It  is  a  strange  fact  tliat  lie 
and  Adams  were  close  friends,  and  that  the  Massachu- 
setts statesman,  who  was  far  from  being  sympathetic 
as  a  rule,  was  warmly  drawn  to  his  young  colleague 
from  South  Carolina,  having  had  at  one  time  a 
thought  of  asking  him  to  run  with  him  as  vice- 
president  until  it  was  known  that  he  was  ambitious 
for  higher  honors. 

William  H.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  was  the  poli- 
tician par  excellence  of  the  times,  the  first  to 
work  himself  into  great  prominence  as  a  '' ma- 
chine ' '  politician,  in  the  present  meaning  of  the 
term.  He  had  a  giant  frame,  a  well -trained  in- 
tellect and  personal  magnetism  of  an  extraordinary 
kind.  He  drew  men  to  him,  not  so  much  by  his 
principles  or  his  views  on  public  questions,  as  by 
his  personal  characteristics  and  promises  of  sup- 
port. So  great  had  been  his  influence  that  it  was 
even  proposed  that  he  be  a  candidate  for  president 
in  1820  against  Monroe,  but  this  he  refused  to  do 
on  the  ground  that  Monroe  was  entitled  to  a  second 
term  and  probably  also  because  he  knew  that  he 
could  not  have  won  had  he  entered  the  race.  He 
was  less  of  a  statesman  than  either  Adams  or  Cal- 
houn, but  he  had  had  broad  experience  in  political 
affairs,  and  was  taking  advantage  of  that  growth 


ENTEY  INTO  THE  SENATE  43 

of  democracy  which,   beginning  under  Jefferson, 
was  now  rapidly  extending. 

Somewhat  to  anticipate  the  course  of  events,  it 
may  be  said  here,  and  in  this  connection,  that  two 
other  candidates  soon  appeared  in  the  field,  Henry 
Clay  and  Andrew  Jackson. 

Henry  Clay  was  a  man  of  unbridled  ambition, 
who  had  been  awaiting  his  chance,  and  it  now 
seemed  the  time  for  him  to  enter  the  lists.  He  had 
quarreled  with  Adams  at  Ghent  ^  and  though  cog- 
nizant of  his  abilities  held  him  personally,  by 
reason  of  his  Puritanism,  in  rather  low  esteem. 
Clay  was  soon  launched  as  a  candidate,  but  he  had 
a  comparatively  small  following,  in  spite  of  his 
career  in  the  Senate  and  the  House,  of  which  he 
had  been  the  Speaker  during  nearly  the  entire 
period  of  his  membership.  He  looked  to  getting  the 
support  of  those  who  should  prove  unavailable, 
rather  than  to  building  up  an  active  constituency 
of  his  own.  He  naturally  counted  on  a  good  deal 
of  favor  in  the  West,  but  he  was  soon  eclipsed  by 
the  rising  star  of  Jackson. 

Andrew  Jackson  is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  men 
in  all  our  history.  Defectively  educated,  reared  in 
a  rude  school,  he  had  little  experience  in  public 

*  Adams'  Diary. 


44  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

afi'airs  of  the  nation  except  as  a  soldier,  in  which 
capacity  he  developed  a  positive  genius  for  success 
with  incidental  talent  for  getting  into  trouble  with 
the  civil  authorities.  He  was,  however,  the  expo- 
nent and  the  embodiment  of  the  rising  tide  of 
American  democracy  as  opposed  to  the  cultui-e, 
education  and  experience  of  the  older  communities. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  in  these  days  to  estimate  the 
excitement  and  disgust  caused  among  statesmen  of 
the  old  school  by  the  announcement  that  he  had 
determined  to  enter  the  contest.  Up  to  this  time 
service  in  civil  affairs  was  considered  a  sine  qua  non 
for  preferment.  It  is  true  that  Washington's 
military  services  were  his  chief  claim  to  the 
gratitude  of  the  country,  but  he  was  in  a  class 
by  himself.  All  others  had  risen  gradually  and 
had  earned  their  promotion. 

The  singular  fact  about  these  five  candidates  was 
that  they  were  all  Eepublicans,  alleged  followers  of 
Jefferson.  Adams  had  been  a  Federalist  and  was 
almost  ostracized  in  Kew  England  for  adhering  to 
the  new  order  of  things.  The  rest  were  and  had 
always  been  Democrats,  as  we  now  understand  the 
term,  though  it  did  not  come  into  general  use  until 
after  the  election  of  Jackson.  Kone  of  them  could 
raise  any  especial  banner  of  principles  ;  none  had  a 


E^^TEY  INTO  THE  SENATE  45 

distinct  political  program  to  announce  as  opposed 
to  the  others,  though  Clay  and  Adams  were  the 
most  liberal  in  their  views  of  the  Constitution. 
In  time  Calhoun  withdrew  to  accept  second  honors, 
but  the  other  four  fought  the  contest  to  its  end,  and 
the  rivalries  thus  engendered  occupied  most  of  the 
political  activities  of  Monroe's  second  term,  all 
legislation  being  variously  viewed  as  it  affected  the 
candidacy  of  one  or  all  of  the  aspirants. 

Benton' s  entrance  into  public  life  was  coincident 
with  this  centrifugal  condition  of  politics,  and  it 
inhered  to  his  advantage  that  he  hitched  his  wagon 
to  the  Jackson  star  very  early  in  his  career.  We 
have  seen  that  he  had  been  embroiled  with  this 
soldier  in  youth,  but  the  very  bitterness  of  their  early 
antagonism  seems  to  have  cemented  more  firmly 
their  later  friendship,  which  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant in  all  our  history,  since  it  resulted  in  enter- 
prises of  great  pith  and  moment. 

The  issues  which  were  before  the  country  at  the 
time  Benton  took  his  seat  in  the  winter  of  1821 
were  many.  The  country  had  passed  through  a 
severe  financial  crisis ;  the  government  could  not 
raise  sufficient  ordinary  revenue  for  its  expenses ; 
banks  generally,  outside  of  New  England,  had  sus- 
pended specie  payments  ;    the  public  lands  were 


46  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

sold  on  unfavorable  terms  stimulating  unfortunate 
speculation  and  discriminating  against  the  actual 
settler  ;  the  country  was  aroused  over  the  Texas 
question,  Monroe,  on  the  advice  of  the  southern  as 
well  as  the  northern  members  of  his  cabinet,  having 
failed  to  embrace  the  opportunity  to  annex  that 
territory ;  internal  improvements  caused  vexation 
of  spirit ;  the  slavery  extension  question  was  not  yet 
entirely  forgotten;  while  the  South  American  revo- 
lutions were  making  it  apparent  that  we  must  soon 
take  an  important  stand  in  that  part  of  the  world. 
These  things  were  giving  Monroe  and  the  people  a 
good  deal  of  food  for  thought  while  the  politicians 
were  studying  them  for  their  own  purposes. 

It  is  to  Benton's  credit  that  from  the  very  start 
he  made  a  stand  in  favor  of  a  sound  currency, 
— for  coin  rather  than  notes  of  any  kind.  Be- 
fore he  took  his  seat.  Congress  had  been  obliged 
to  cut  down  expenses  wherever  possible,  especially 
in  reference  to  the  army,  navy  and  fortifications,  and 
even  then  it  was  compelled  to  borrow  a  large  sum  of 
money  to  carry  on  the  government.  The  land  bill 
of  which  Benton  was  one  of  the  chief  instigators, 
changed  our  whole  policy  on  that  subject. 

Before  this  time  land  had  generally  been  sold  in 
large  tracts  and  on  credit.     Too  confident  invest- 


ENTRY  INTO  THE  SENATE      47 

ors  would  buy  large  lots,  make  small  initial  pay- 
ments and  then  fail  later  j  so  that  it  was  often 
necessary  to  give  extensions  or  to  withdraw 
patents,  in  which  case  litigation  resulted  and  the 
titles  were  clouded.  Benton's  policy  was  to  sell  the 
land  for  cash  at  a  maximum  of  $1.25  an  acre ;  to  give 
preference  to  the  actual  settler  ;  and  to  let  those  who 
had  made  small  payments  on  large  lots  concentrate 
them  on  smaller  sections  and  secure  a  complete  title. 
This  policy  he  had  preached  in  his  newspaper,  on 
the  stump  and  in  the  lobby,  while  he  was  waiting  to 
get  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  Though  the  measure 
seems  to  have  been  devised  originally  by  Crawford, 
and  was  introduced  before  Benton  became  a  member, 
he  was  active  in  aiding  its  passage  and  after  get- 
ting his  seat  his  energy  never  abated  until  he 
secured  the  pre-emptive  right  of  the  settler  to  his 
lands,  a  measure  that  has  perhaps  been  of  more 
value  to  this  country  than  any  other  dealing  with 
public  property.  It  made  settlement  easy  and  the 
forests  soon  rang  with  the  axes  of  the  sturdy  pio- 
neers who  pushed  westward  to  get  the  new  lands, 
picking  out  the  rich  prairie  fields  where  a  living 
came  from  a  mere  tickling  of  the  surface  of  the 
soil. 

One  result  of  this  liberal  policy  of  the  govern- 


48  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

meut  was  that  in  a  short  time  sufficient  revenue  was 
obtained  to  pay  off  the  entire  debt  and  leave  a 
large  surplus  in  the  Treasury.  The  country  grad- 
ually recovered  from  its  financial  depression  and 
the  service  of  the  United  States  Bank  in  assisting 
in  this  work  was  one  of  the  questions  soon  to  be  in- 
jected into  national  politics,  and  a  subject  on  which 
Benton  had  most  positive  convictions. 

As  an  expansionist,  Benton  was  utterly  unfettered 
except  by  practical  conditions.  He  lamented  the 
loss  of  Texas,  and  was  ever  foremost  in  explaining 
to  the  ''effete  East"  that  the  possibilities  of  the 
West  were  unlimited.  Though  he  represented 
Missouri  directly  his  eyes  were  constantly  turned 
toward  the  West,  and  especially  the  Northwest. 

He  advocated  the  construction  of  a  military  road 
to  New  Mexico  which  was  finally  accomplished,  and 
was  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season  in  urging 
the  government  to  secure  a  firm  hold  on  the  Oregon 
country. '  Astor  had  founded  a  trading  post  there 
and  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition  had  given  the 
United  States  a  title  to  the  country  that  only  needed 
to  be  strongly  pressed  against  the  shadowy  claims 
of  Great  Britain. 

This  territory,   however,  was  of  about  as  little 
^Benton's  "Thirty  Years'  View." 


ENTEY  INTO  THE  SENATE      49 

interest  to  the  nation  at  large  as  is  Greenland  at  the 
present  day,  it  being  the  general  opinion  that  it 
involved  too  much  money  to  hold  what  no  one 
would  ever  desire  except  as  a  hunting-ground  for 
fur-bearing  animals.  Such  seeming  short-sighted- 
ness is  not  to  be  wondered  at  so  much  when  we 
consider  that  in  Benton's  first  term  there  were  not 
over  one  hundred  thousand  white  persons  west  of 
the  Mississippi.  Benton,  however,  did  not  hold 
any  such  view.  He  seems  to  have  had  the  eagle 
eye  of  prophecy.  What  he  wrote  in  1822  now  reads 
almost  like  recorded  history.  He  foresaw  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  country,  though  he  could  not  antici- 
pate its  swiftness  or  the  exact  causes  which  were  to 
bring  it  about.  He  therefore  put  all  his  immense 
energies  into  the  task  of  saving  Oregon  and  finally 
succeeded.  In  one  of  his  first  speeches  he  urged  that 
the  Pacific  coast  of  this  country  was  soon  to  become 
neighbor  to  Asia  and  advised  sending  ministers  to 
the  Emperors  of  China  and  Japan,  a  proposal  that 
was  then  considered  almost  as  humorous  as  it  would 
be  now  to  advocate  sending  one  to  Mars. '  He  fairly 
made  the  hair  rise  on  some  of  the  older  senators' 
heads  by  predicting  that  in  a  century  there  would  be 
as  many  persons  living  west  of  the  Eocky  Mountains 
'Benton's  "View,"  Vol.  I. 


50  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

as  then  inhabited  the  whole  United  States.  That 
prophecy  has  not  yet  come  true  but  it  is  measur- 
ably near  realization  and  it  may  be  that  per- 
sons now  living  who  knew  Benton  will  see  the 
day. 

He  did  not  think  it  possible  at  that  time,  how- 
ever, to  extend  the  boundaries  of  the  country  di- 
rectly to  the  Pacific.  As  easy  communication  with 
the  Oregon  country  could  not  be  maintained,  since 
the  Eocky  Mountains  were  our  natural  barrier, 
his  idea  was  to  hold  it,  believing  that  in  time 
there  would  be  erected  an  independent  state  which 
would  become  an  ally  of  this  republic  and  perhaps 
eventually  join  the  Union.  Before  long,  when  the 
^4ron  horse"  had  greatly  changed  social  con- 
ditions, he  foresaw  that  the  Rocky  Mountains  need 
not  be  the  natural  obstacle  he  had  earlier  assumed 
they  would  be,  and  to  no  one  is  the  construction  of 
the  first  transcontinental  railway  due  so  much  as  to 
him. 

While  the  measures  which  have  been  mentioned 
were  national  in  scope  and  redounded  to  the  bene- 
fit of  the  whole  country,  Benton,  in  urging  their 
adoption,  was  not  without  regard  for  the  interests 
of  Missouri.  That  state  was  then  the  outpost 
of    the  frontier.     Her  territory   extended   faither 


e:n^tey  ii;to  the  senate  51 

west  than  that  of  any  other  state,  and  as  the  coun- 
try expanded  she  was  the  first  to  come  into  touch 
with  the  new  territories,  whereby  she  soon  enjoyed 
a  vast  increase  in  her  trade. 

One  of  the  crying  abuses  of  the  West  was  the 
monopoly  of  salt.  There  were  saline  springs  in 
Missouri  withheld  from  sale  by  the  government  and 
leased  to  politicians  and  their  favorites  on  terms 
which  created  an  odious  monopoly.  It  may  seem 
a  small  thing  in  this  day,  but  salt  was  a  burning 
question  in  politics  for  one  hundred  years.  It 
entered  into  the  very  first  tariff  bill  and  was  fiercely 
fought  over  in  the  McKinley  Bill  a  century  later; 
since  which  time  it  seems  to  have  lost  much  of  its 
importance,  owing  to  changes  in  commercial  and 
other  conditions.  In  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  it  was  a  very  expensive  article  of 
everyday  life.  Transportation  was  costly.  In  a 
rude  country  where  every  farm  was  a  sort  of 
microcosm,  salt  was  necessary  to  preserve  the  meat 
put  down  for  winter  use,  and  was  one  of  the  very 
few  things  the  settler  could  not  do  without.  In 
making  salt  more  plentiful  and  cheaper,  by  securing 
the  adoption  of  the  rule  that  the  springs  should  be 
sold  to  the  highest  bidder  without  corrupt  par- 
tiality, Benton  not  only  performed  an  act  of  states- 


62  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

manship  but  endeared  himself  to  his  constituents 
in  a  way  that  his  generation  never  forgot. 

Although  a  free-trader,  especially  in  the  later 
years  of  his  life,  he  was  sagacious  enough  in  the 
perfection  of  tariff  bills  always  to  work  for  the 
interests  of  his  own  constituents,  as  in  demanding  a 
duty  upon  lead. 

His  ideas  were  also  turned  toward  the  develop- 
ment of  river  navigation  in  Missouri,  and  he  was 
willing  to  vote  money  to  clear  the  snags  and  sand- 
bars from  the  Mississippi,  which  he  was  pleased  to 
regard  as  a  national  highway,  when  he  was  opposed 
to  digging  a  canal  or  building  a  turnpike. 

It  is  easy  to  say  that  this  was  because  Missouri 
was  interested  much  in  the  one  and  very  little 
in  the  other,  and  undoubtedly  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  truth  in  the  statement.  We  all  of  us  very 
clearly  see  things  we  desire  to  see,  and  it  was  no 
strain  on  Benton's  reasoning  powers  to  argue 
that  the  natural  highways  of  commerce  which 
largely  appertained  to  the  whole  nation  were  in  a 
different  category  from  roads  running  through  in- 
dividual states.  Indeed  when  he  came  to  advocate 
the  construction  of  the  great  road  to  New  Mexico 
he  replied  to  all  charges  of  inconsistency  by  saying 
that    the    proposed    improvement    went    entirely 


EKTEY  INTO  THE  SE:N^ATE  53 

through  federal  territory  and  did  not  touch  any- 
state.  This  may  now  seem  to  us  a  narrow  reason- 
ing but  it  sufficed  at  a  time  when  men  were  de- 
lighted to  make  a  fetich  of  the  Constitution  and  be- 
lieved or  acted  as  if  they  thought  that  the  country 
were  made  for  that  instrument  and  not  the  re- 
verse. 

Considering  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  Benton 
was  a  man  of  great  liberality  of  view.  He  was  emi- 
nently practical  and  ever  tried  to  impress  upon  his 
fellows  that  the  imaginations  of  their  hearts  were 
too  continually  evil,  and  that  many  of  the  woes  they 
anticipated  could  come  only  because  they  were  con- 
stantly expected.  As  a  rule  he  labored  in  vain. 
The  man  who  had  decided  that  the  Constitution 
meant  such  and  such  a  thing  was  not  to  be  turned 
from  his  course,  even  if  the  Eepublic  fell,  especially 
when  he  could  see  that  his  interests  lay  on  the  side 
of  his  interpretation.  And  it  often  came  to  pass 
that  his  interests  unconsciously  guided  his  direc- 
tion of  thought.  When  churchmen  in  IsTew  Eng- 
land and  elsewhere  fell  into  the  most  violent  con- 
troversies over  the  exact  meaning  of  some  text  of 
Scripture,  dividing  families,  separating  old  friends, 
and  arousing  bitternesses  of  the  most  intense  sort, 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  politicians  de- 


54  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

voted  days  and  nights  to  a  study  of  the  Constitu- 
tion either  to  discover  what  it  actually  meant,  or  to 
prove  that  it  meant  the  specific  thing  they  desired 
it  to  mean. 


CHAPTEE  lY 

FINDING  HIS  PLACE 

When  in  the  last  Monroe  administration  Ben- 
ton was  obliged  to  take  sides  on  the  great  question 
of  the  succession,  he  decided  first  in  favor  of  Clay. 
He  was  a  relative  of  Mrs.  Clay  and  he  had  a 
great  admiration  for  the  Kentucky  statesman  who 
was  moreover  the  candidate  pm-  excellence  of  the 
West  at  the  outset.  No  sooner  was  Jackson  in  the 
field  than  Benton  redoubled  his  efforts,  since  he 
had  not  yet  become  reconciled  to  that  early  antag- 
onist who  still  carried  in  his  arm  the  bullet  of  his 
brother,  Jesse  Benton.  As  fate  would  have  it,  Ten- 
nessee had  a  vacancy  in  the  Senate,  and  Andrew 
Jackson  was  chosen  to  fill  it.  When  he  arrived 
to  take  his  seat  in  the  body  of  which  twenty  odd 
years  previously  he  had  been  a  member  for  a  short 
time,  the  only  vacant  chair  was  beside  Benton. 
This  was  at  first  embarrassing  to  both  and  except 
for  the  most  formal  recognition  they  remained  un- 
conscious of  each  other's  presence  until  they  were 
chosen    to  serve  on  the  same    committee.     Then 


56  THOMAS  H.  BEl^TOl^^ 

Jackson  opened  the  way  to  more  informal  inter- 
course which  Benton  at  first  stiffly  refused.  But 
both  were  men  of  innate  courtesy,  and  it  was  not 
long  until  they  had  exchanged  cards  and  established 
social  relations,  at  length  becoming  the  warmest 
friends  in  politics  which  this  country  has  ever 
known.  ^ 

This  condition  of  affairs  did  not  at  the  time  affect 
the  position  of  Benton  as  to  the  presidency.  He  was 
in  favor  of  Clay  so  long  as  the  latter  had  a  chance 
to  win.  It  soon  appeared,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
political  treacheries  of  the  time,  that  Clay  was 
fourth  on  the  list  (though  he  would  have  been  third 
had  promises  been  kept),  and  was  therefore  consti- 
tutionally eliminated  from  the  contest. 

Benton  then  turned  his  attention  to  Crawford, 
but  that  statesman  had  been  attacked  by  paralysis 
and  it  was  evident  that  he  could  not  win  in  any 
event.  As  between  Adams  and  Jackson,  he  pre- 
ferred the  latter  both  because  he  was  a  western  man 
and  because  the  sentiment  of  Missouri  was  in  his 
favor.  The  contest  was  settled  in  the  House  of  Eep- 
resentatives  and  here  the  vote  of  that  state  was 
cast  by  John  Scott  who  was  its  sole  representative. 
This  member,  under  the  influence  of  Clay,  had  gone 
^  Parton's  "  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson." 


findi:n^g  his  place  57 

over  to  Adams,  much  to  the  displeasure  of  Bentou. 
He  threatened  Scott  to  no  advantage  and  Missouri 
voted  for  Adams  who  was  elected.  It  was  quite 
natural  that  Clay  should  cast  his  influence  in  the 
Massachusetts  man's  favor,  seeing  that  in  general 
the  two  were  more  nearly  in  political  accord  than 
any  other  combination  of  candidates.  Out  of  that 
contest  flowed  the  dominating  currents  in  politics 
for  many  years  to  come.  ^ 

The  fact  that  Adams'  election  was  so  warmly 
contested  rendered  his  position  weak,  but  he  pro- 
ceeded to  make  the  situation  worse  by  naming 
Clay  for  Secretary  of  State,  thus  originating  the 
^'Corrupt  Bargain"  story  which  followed  Clay  so 
long  as  he  lived  and  which  at  least  once  defeated 
him  when  nominated  for  president  and  perhaps 
twice  prevented  him  from  getting  the  nomination 
when  he  could  have  been  elected. 

In  order  to  make  Adams  unpopular  a  trick  was 
resorted  to  which  was  ignoble  but  sufiScient  for  the 
purpose  required.  Long  after  it  was  known  that 
Clay's  influence  would  be  cast  for  Adams,  but  be- 
fore the  final  vote,  an  anonymous  letter  appeared  in 
a  Philadelphia  newspaper  announcing  that  a  corrupt 
bargain  had  been  made  whereby  Clay  would  be- 
*  Parton's  '•  Jackson." 


68  THOMAS  H.  BEKTON 

come  Secretary  of  State.  Clay  was  perfectly  sin- 
cere in  his  denunciation  of  this  statement  and  in 
his  announcement  that  he  would  call  the  author  of 
the  libel  to  the  ''field  of  honor."  Very  soon,  Mr. 
Kremer,  a  member  of  the  House  from  Pennsylva- 
nia, announced  himself  as  the  signer  of  the  letter; 
but  Clay  was  so  thoroughly  convinced  that  it  was 
prepared  by  others  much  higher  in  the  councils  of 
the  Jackson  party  that  he  refused  to  accept  such  a 
subterfuge,  and  declined  to  challenge  the  Pennsyl- 
vanian.  Under  the  code  of  the  times  this  act  put 
Clay  at  a  disadvantage,  and  it  is  hard  to  see  under 
the  circumstances  how  he  later  consented  to  accept 
the  post  and  thus  apparently  carry  out  the  exact 
terms  of  the  bargain.' 

Adams  lacked  common  sense  or  he  would  never 
have  made  the  offer.  Clay  was  too  high  strung  to 
refuse  it,  though  he  accepted  against  his  inclinations 
and  only  at  the  earnest  advice  of  his  friends.  Both 
were  conscious  of  innocence  in  the  matter  and 
were  too  proud  to  stoop  to  conquer  public  applause 
by  seeming  to  run  away  from  a  libelous  publica- 
tion. When  the  nomination  of  Clay  was  sent  into 
the  Senate  it  was  confirmed,  but  it  set  the  seal  of 
disapproval  on  the  administration.  After  that 
'  Nilea'  Register  :  1825. 


FINDING  HIS  PLACE  59 

there  was  no  possibility  that  Adams  could  succeed 
himst^f,  and  little  chance  that  Clay  could  escape 
condemnation,  as  in  fact  he  did  not. 

Benton  was  not  one  who  believed  in  the  story  of 
the  corrupt  bargain  by  which  Clay  was  said  to  have 
bartered  his  votes  for  the  premiership.  Clay  told 
him  early  in  the  contest  that  he  favored  Adams, 
and  Benton  gave  this  information  currency  in  the 
newspapers  and  in  conversation.  Hereafter  the 
great  Missourian  followed  the  Jackson  star  and 
succeeded  in  most  of  his  political  undertakings  so 
long  as  it  was  in  the  ascendant.  This  was  not  so 
much  because  he  was  dominated  by  Jackson  as  be- 
cause in  those  particular  lines  in  which  he  was  most 
interested  Benton  was  able  to  dominate  the  Demo- 
cratic leader.  The  two  men  were  diametrically 
opposite  in  most  respects  and  yet  there  were  points 
of  contact  in  their  natures  which  served  to  make 
the  dual  alliance  of  great  import  to  the  country. 

Benton  was  now  beginning  to  find  his  true  place 
in  the  Senate.  He  was  vain  of  his  oratory  for 
very  insufficient  reasons  and  customarily  had  his 
speeches  printed  for  circulation  in  Missouri.  His 
first  cheek  came  from  the  venerable  Eufus  King, 
then  in  his  last  years  in  the  Senate,  who  had  served 
his  country  for  five  decades  and  was,  with  Nathaniel 


60  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

Macon,  a  survivor  of  the  Eevolutionary  period. 
This  arch  Federalist  came  over  to  Benton  one  day 
after  he  had  made  a  bitter  speech  against  the 
Chesapeake  canal  appropriation  (which  Monroe 
later  vetoed)  and  spoke  to  him  with  the  authority 
and  tenderness  of  a  father.  He  remarked  that 
while  he  had  watched  Benton's  rising  powers  with 
interest  and  admiration,  and  believed  he  had  a 
great  future  before  him,  his  attitude  of  assumed 
authority  and  defiance  sat  ill  upon  the  older  mem- 
bers. This  rebuke  was  given  with  such  dignity 
and  real  concern  that  it  touched  Benton's  heart 
at  once  and  he  wrote  his  wife  fully  of  the  incident, 
saying  that  he  would  not  publish  the  speech  which 
had  been  criticised  and  would  endeavor  to  amend 
his  temperament.  He  succeeded  partially,  though 
it  was  not  until  many  years  later  that  he  mellowed 
and  assumed  toward  the  younger  members  of  the 
Senate  the  same  attitude  which  King  had  adopted 
toward  himself.  ^ 

At  the  opening  of  Congress  in  the  December  of 
Adams'  administration  the  Senate  was  found  to  be 
strongly  opposed  to  the  President.  This  was  largely 
the  result  of  the  bitterness  which  arose  from  the 
settlement  of  the  election  and  the  appointment  of 
»  Benton's  "  View." 


FINDING  HIS  PLACE  61 

Clay.  The  House  was  on  the  side  of  Adams,  show- 
ing that  so  far  as  the  popular  will  could  be  ex- 
pressed, the  people  were  with  him,  although  the 
situation  changed  at  the  next  election  and  Adams 
never  was  able  to  secure  from  Congress  that  legisla- 
tion which  he  so  greatly  desired. 

The  first  matter  of  great  public  moment  con- 
cerned the  Panama  Congress,  the  subject  of  so 
many  brilliant  expectations,  though  it  turned  out  to 
be  so  complete  a  fiasco.  The  intention  of  the 
South  Americans  who  originated  the  idea  was  to 
call  a  meeting  of  representatives  of  all  the  American 
republics  in  an  attempt  to  bring  about  closer  com- 
mercial and  political  relations,  provide  for  the  com- 
mon defense  against  foreign  aggression,  and  estab- 
lish certain  rules  among  themselves  which  in  so  far 
as  the  contracting  parties  were  concerned  should 
have  the  effect  of  international  law.  This  was  a 
brilliant  conception,  one  which  appealed  to  the 
imagination  of  many  Americans  and  to  no  one 
more  than  to  Secretary  Clay.  Adams  of  course 
was  in  favor  of  the  enterprise  because  when  he  was 
Secretary  of  State  he  had  been  largely  responsible 
for  the  promulgation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
Viewed  as  an  abstract  proposition  it  seemed  to  have 
everything  to  commend  it,  but  in  an  age  when  there 


62  THOKA.S  H.  BENTOK 

were  no  railways,  telegraphs,  cables,  or  ocean  steam- 
ships, there  were  more  difficulties  to  overcome  than 
appeared  on  the  surface. 

In  the  first  place,  few  of  the  Latin  republics  were 
firmly  established.  There  was  little  educated  intel- 
ligence among  the  people  and  already  the  revolu- 
tionary spirit  which  has  continued  to  this  day  had 
begun  to  manifest  itself.  The  possibility  of  the  na- 
tions agreeing  to  anything  that  should  be  respected 
by  all,  or  which  recalcitrants  could  be  compelled  to 
respect,  seemed  to  practical  minds  very  small  in- 
deed. Moreover  there  were  many  who  felt  that  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  must  not  be  pushed  too  far. 
Benton  believed  (and  afiected  to  think  that  Adams 
took  the  same  ground)  that  we  never  had  done  and 
never  could  do  more  than  protect  oui'  own  borders 
from  European  colonization,  but  this  narrow  inter- 
pretation is  absurd  since  it  needed  no  special  mes- 
sage of  the  President  to  state  such  a  proposition. 

The  crisis  was  reached  when  the  names  of  dele- 
gates to  the  Panama  Congress  were  sent  to  the 
Senate  by  the  President.  This  action  precipitated  a 
fracas  of  large  dimensions.  In  the  debates  which 
followed  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  some  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  administration  believed  they  were  taking 
the  only  logical  ground,  but  it  is  certain  that  politics 


FINDING  HIS  PLACE  63 

had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  matter.  Objection 
was  entered  at  once  that  the  President  had  no  right 
to  make  such  nominations  without  the  previous 
authorization  of  Congress  and  information  was 
asked  as  to  the  nature  of  the  proposed  mission  and 
the  subjects  that  the  delegates  from  the  United 
States  would  be  likely  to  discuss.  The  President 
replied  in  a  dignified  letter  stating  that  commercial 
relations,  contraband  and  neutral  goods  in  war, 
foreign  aggression,  the  relations  with  Cuba,  and 
such  matters  were  to  be  treated. 

The  peculiar  fact  about  this  answer  was  that  it 
eliminated  one  subject  which  had  been  named  by 
the  South  Americans  and  which  had  caused  great 
excitement  all  over  the  United  States — namely  the 
status  of  Haiti.  At  that  time  the  negro  republic 
had  been  in  existence  for  some  years  but  there  had 
never  been  any  but  commercial  relations  between  it 
and  us.  We  had  some  trade  but  no  consuls  or  min- 
isters were  sent  by  either  nation  to  the  other. 
Indeed  the  slaveholders  were  filled  with  fear  when- 
ever they  thought  of  the  horrors  of  the  negro  re- 
bellion whereby  Toussaint  L'Ouverture  drove  out 
the  French  with  such  terrible  slaughter  and  estab- 
lished a  government.  There  was  constant  apprehen- 
sion that  such  an  experiment  might  be  repeated  in 


64  THOMAS  H.  BEKTON 

this  country.  The  South  and  Central  Americans 
were  moved  by  no  such  considerations.  There  were 
negroes  and  mulattoes  among  the  generals  and 
statesmen  of  those  countries  and  they  were  consid- 
ered to  be  on  an  equal  footing  with  those  of  proud- 
est Castilian  blood.  The  Latin  republics  were  will- 
ing to  enter  into  relations  with  Haiti  and  this  very 
fact  made  many  of  the  senators  from  our  Southern 
states  look  askance  at  the  proposition. 

Benton  delivered  a  speech  at  this  time  in  which 
he  called  attention  to  the  omission  in  Adams'  letter 
and  denounced  a  congress  to  be  held  in  Panama 
where  matters  pertaining  to  the  interests  of  the 
United  States  should  be  discussed, — that  could  not 
be  discussed  in  Washington.^  It  cannot  be  said  that 
in  this  matter  Benton  acted  with  his  usual  sound 
judgment.  He  unintentionally  took  exactly  the 
course  which  he  later  so  roundly  denounced  in  others, 
— that  of  stirring  up  sectional  strife  on  the  slavery 
question.  Benton,  however,  was  deeply  engrossed 
in  politics  and  was  willing  to  do  anything  reasona- 
ble to  drive  the  administration  to  the  wall. 

The  debate  finally  produced  nothing  of  impor- 
tance but  the  duel  between  Clay  and  Eandolph. 
In  this  duel  Benton  acted  as  the  mutual  friend  of 

*See  chapter  on  "  Benton  as  Author  and  Orator,"  passim. 


FINDING  HIS  PLACE  65 

both  and  an  arbiter  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
code.  It  was  a  bloodless  affair  and  a  reconciliation 
followed.  Eandolph  had  desired  Benton  to  act  as 
his  second  but  under  the  code  the  relationship 
of  the  latter  to  Mrs.  Clay  made  it  impossible. 
Eandolph,  to  show  his  appreciation  of  Benton's 
services,  had  made  for  him  a  gold  seal  on  which 
was  engraved  a  crest  furnished  by  the  obliging  Col- 
lege of  Heraldry  in  London  and  said  to  belong  to 
the  family.  Benton  laughed  at  the  crest  and  an 
alleged  family  tree  of  distinguished  membership 
but  wore  the  seal  until  his  death. 

The  Panama  Commission  was  finally  authorized, 
but  it  was  more  than  sixty  years  before  such  a  Pan- 
American  Congress  met  and  then  it  did  so  in  Wash- 
ington where  much  less  was  accomplished  under 
happier  auspices  than  was  proposed  in  1825. 

During  Adams'  entire  administration  there  was 
no  other  thought  on  the  part  of  the  opposition  than 
of  making  Jackson  president  in  1828.  Clay  was 
eliminated ;  Calhoun  was  content  for  the  present 
with  the  vice-presidency,  seeing  that  the  Jackson 
wave  was  rising,  and  hoping  to  succeed  him.  Clay 
was  of  course  in  favor  of  his  chief  but  the  fight 
against  Adams  was  concentrated  and  bitter.  The 
election    was    a    foregone    conclusion.      Jackson 


66  THOMAS  H.  BEIN^TON 

easily  won  the  electoral  college  and  his  showing  in 
the  popular  vote  was  very  respectable.  Had 
Adams  refrained  from  appointing  Clay,  had  he 
been  possessed  of  a  more  engaging  personality,  had 
he  been  less  disposed  to  lecture  Congress  collec- 
tively and  the  members  individually,  he  might  possi- 
bly have  been  reelected  j  though  on  the  whole  it  seems 
certain  that  the  march  of  democracy  was  so  rapid 
that  his  reelection  was  never  for  an  instant  possible. 
The  growth  of  the  West,  the  unfettering  of  restric- 
tions on  voting  in  the  Eastern  states,  the  belief  in 
the  righteousness  and  power  of  pure  democracy — 
all  joined  to  make  Jackson  the  candidate  and  se- 
cured his  election. 

This  was  one  of  New  England's  darkest  hours. 
Twice  she  had  seen  her  presidents  rej  ected.  The  first 
time  John  Adams,  one  of  the  greatest  of  her  sons, 
was  discarded  for  Jefferson  who  was  considered  an 
atheist,  a  revolutionary,  and  a  dangerous  man  gen- 
erally. The  New  Englanders  had  indeed  seen  the 
country  barely  survive  the  shock  of  his  administra- 
tion for  Mr.  Madison's  war  was  its  direct  inherit- 
ance. Now  another  Adams  met  a  similar  fate  and 
they  could  scarcely  believe  that  civilized  government 
would  withstand  the  blow  resulting  from  the  pro- 
motion of  a  backwoods  militia  general  to  the  presi- 


FINDING  KIS  PLACE  67 

dency.  With  all  his  faults  Jefferson  was  a  gentle- 
man ;  here  was  a  man  who  was  rude,  almost  bar- 
barous. 

Benton  had  no  faith  in  such  pessimism.  He  was 
a  democrat  at  heart  and  with  all  his  personal  van- 
ity he  expected  to  see  democracy  rise  triumphant 
on  the  ruins  of  federalism,  Eastern  formalism  and 
the  prejudices  of  the  old  republicans.  None  re- 
joiced more  than  he  when  Jackson  won  and  to  no 
person  during  his  eight  years  of  incumbency  was 
the  hero  of  Xew  Orleans  more  beholden  than  to  the 
man  whom  he  had  earlier  met  in  deadly  combat  in 
a  street  brawl.' 

^  Roosevelt's  "  Life  of  Benton." 


CHAPTEE  Y 

JACKSON'S  BIGHT  ARM 

^^The  reign  of  Andrew  Jackson"  lasted  from 
1829  to  1841.  During  the  last  four  years  Van 
Buren  was  in  the  White  House  and  his  career  was 
a  stormy  one  ;  but  the  whole  period  was  dominated 
by  Jackson's  policies  and,  so  far  as  the  triumvirate 
of  Clay,  Calhoun  and  Webster  permitted,  Jackso- 
nian  legislation  was  enacted.  It  was  during  this 
period  that  Benton's  most  serious  work  was  done. 
During  most  of  the  time  he  was  Jackson's  right 
arm  and  led  the  Jacksonian  interest  in  the  Senate, 
though  for  a  while  it  was  a  minority  as  against  the 
triumvirate.  In  this  era  Benton  was  intimately 
connected  with  four  great  matters  of  public  policy. 
They  were : 

Nullification  and  the  Tariff, 
Destruction  of  the  National  Bank, 
The  Specie  Standard, 
The  Distribution  of  the  Land  Surplus. 

There  were  many  other  issues  of  minor  kinds  but 


JACKSON'S  RIGHT  ARM  69 

these  were  the  most  important  and  tliey  furnished 
the  material  for  political  discussion  until  the  Mexi- 
can War  brought  forward  new  ones. 

Benton  origina;ted  only  one  of  the  policies  of  the 
administration,  but  he  fought  out  all  of  them  in  the 
Senate.  Without  his  aid  Jackson  would  have  soon 
come  to  grief.  Although  he  was  a  devoted  follower 
of  his  chief,  Benton  never  claimed  to  be  his  mouth- 
piece and  rather  resented  such  a  notion,  for  he  de- 
clared that  he  was  independent  and  wished  it  to  be 
understood  that  he  decided  every  question  on  its 
merits.  This  disguise  was  thin  as  in  those  days  a 
man  must  be  either  for  Jackson  or  against  him  ;  he 
could  not  be  lukewarm.  It  was  as  a  fighter  that 
Benton  excelled.  He  never  equivocated,  never 
compromised,  never  became  discouraged  by  defeat. 

At  the  outset  of  the  administration  Benton  was 
much  distressed  over  Jackson's  high-handed  deal- 
ing with  the  patronage.  In  these  days  we  are  apt 
to  consider  that  "Old  Hickory"  was  the  greatest 
foe  of  civil  service  reform  that  ever  lived  ;  that  he 
was  the  originator  of  the  principle,  if  not  the  ex- 
pression, "to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils."  This 
is  true  only  in  the  sense  that  he  overrode  all  previ- 
ous traditions  and  made  more  changes  than  all  his 
predecessors  combined.     It  must  not  be  understood, 


70  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

however,  that  he  was  ruthless  in  his  decapitations. 
In  the  departments  involving  the  judicial  functions 
of  the  nation,  even  as  touching  land  commissions 
and  the  like,  he  made  almost  no  removals  and  only 
then  for  cause.  Benton  did  his  best  to  show  that 
Jackson  was  not  so  bad  as  he  was  painted,  but  with 
no  great  success,  since  the  changes  which  he  made 
created  as  much  excitement  as  if  a  president  to- 
day by  administrative  order  were  to  revoke  all  the 
civil  service  rules  and  oust  every  man  possible. 

An  incident  may  be  related.  The  collector  at 
Salem  was  General  Miller,  a  Federalist  whom  Jack- 
son had  marked  for  dismissal.  He  had  nominated 
his  successor.  Benton  heard  this  news  with  great 
agitation  and  approached  the  President  at  once, 
asking  if  he  knew  who  this  General  Miller  was. 
He  did  not. 

"  He  is  the  hero  of  Lundy's  Lane,"  said  Benton. 

^'The  man  who  when  asked  to  take  a  battery 
said,  a'lltry'?" 

''The  very  man." 

*'By  the  Eternal!"  shouted  Jackson  as  his  fist 
came  down  on  the  table,  ''that  man  shall  be  in 
office  as  long  as  Jackson  is  President,"  and  the 
order  for  dismissal  was  at  once  revoked. 

The  incident  is  instructive  as  showing  Benton's 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  71 

desire  to  keep  the  service  intact  and  in  explaining 
the  fiery  temperament  of  Jackson.  This  was  an 
age  when  nepotism  was  largely  practiced.  Benton 
in  all  his  public  life  never  asked  an  office  or  a  i)ub- 
lic  contract  for  a  member  of  his  own  family.  He 
was  a  rugged  believer  in  maintaining  the  integrity 
and  independence  of  the  civil  service  and  disliked 
having  anything  to  do  with  recommending  men  to 
positions,  even  when  there  were  vacancies  to  be 
filled. 

Before  taking  up  the  subjects  which  proved  to  be 
the  greatest  in  Benton's  career  and  so  influential  in 
politics  for  more  than  thirty  years,  it  is  well  to  ob- 
serve that  he  became  an  ardent  foe  of  the  IS'avy. 
He  believed,  of  course,  in  a  moderate  establish- 
ment, but  asserted  as  many  of  his  successors  have 
done  to  this  day,  that  a  large  navy  is  simply  an  in- 
centive to  international  broils,  and  that  in  any  event 
we  could  not  depend  upon  it  in  case  of  war.  This 
indicated  a  rather  narrow  view  of  the  subject,  con- 
sidering that  it  was  the  despised  'Navj  that  had 
won  most  of  the  honors  in  the  late  war,  in  which 
Benton  had  figured  most  inconspicuously.  But  he 
was  alarmed  at  the  tremendous  cost  of  the  fleet,  and 
being  a  rigid  economist,  always  singled  it  out  for 
retrenchment    whenever    possible.     In    his    many 


72  THOMAS  H.  BE>s"TON 

speeches  lie  was  willing  enough  to  admire  exhibi- 
tions of  personal  valor,  but  he  did  not  consider  the 
establishment  necessary  on  the  basis  favored  by  the 
majority.  This  seems  to  have  been  a  fault  of  his 
training  and  experience.  Benton  was  not  commer- 
cial in  instinct,  nor  did  he  until  late  in  life  come  at 
all  in  contact  with  those  forces  in  the  East  which 
were  so  potent  in  national  development.  Even 
then  it  was  with  constant  surprise  that  he  discovered 
that  manufacturing  and  shipping  were  not  neces- 
sarily tinged  with  a  peculiar  selfishness  and  a  lack 
of  patriotism. 

It  was  on  somewhat  different  grounds  that  he  at- 
tacked the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  He 
was  never  tired  of  branding  this  institution  as  ex- 
pensive and  as  training  young  men  in  a  way  that 
was  contrary  to  existing  theories.  It  was  alleged 
that  the  soldier  was  born,  not  made.  This  notion 
has  long  been  abandoned,  but  in  Benton's  day 
there  was  some  justification  for  it  since  the  Academy 
was  a  new  institution,  feebly  administered.  Ben- 
ton had  grown  up  on  the  frontier  ;  had  served  under 
Jackson  whom  he  considered  the  greatest  general 
of  the  age ;  was  familiar  with  the  careers  of  the 
Clarks,  Harrison  and  others  who  had  sprung  from 
the  soil   and   made  good   military  records.      His 


JACKSON'S  RIGHT  ARM  73 

argument  was  weak  in  that  it  failed  to  recognize  that 
a  good  man  is  made  better  by  training.  As  we  shall 
see  later  he  was  willing  and  anxious  to  command 
all  the  armies  of  the  country,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  never  been  in  a  battle  in  his  life. 

Though  Benton  talked  long  and  often  concerning 
the  JSTavy  and  West  Point,  he  never  succeeded  in 
impressing  his  fellow  members  with  the  worth  of 
his  suggestions,  and  these  can  hardly  be  made  rail- 
ing accusations  against  him. 

The  first  crisis  in  Benton's  political  career  came  in 
the  contest  over  nullification,  and  strangely  enough 
he  was  for  a  time  allied  with  the  forces  which 
were  attempting  to  establish  that  doctrine,  always  so 
hateful  to  him.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  in  this 
he  was  unconscious  of  the  aid  he  was  giving  them, 
and  it  was  but  a  short  time  before  the  scales  fell 
from  his  eyes.  Benton  seems  to  have  been  a  guile- 
less sort  of  person.  Conscious  of  the  rectitude  of 
his  own  views,  he  was  loath  to  attribute  any  sinister 
designs  to  others.  Considering  his  later  career  it  is 
astonishing  to  find  him  early  in  the  Jackson  ad- 
ministration a  supporter  of  the  views  of  Hayne  and 
Calhoun,  utterly  failing  to  note  the  trend  of  events. 
Little  has  been  said  thus  far  of  the  growth  of  the 
views  of  the  ultra-slavery  men  for  the  very  reason 


74  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

that  to  understand  the  career  of  Benton,  we  must 
follow  him  in  his  ignorance.  Now  that  he  was  to 
have  his  eyes  opened  it  is  necessary  to  give  some 
account  of  the  political  situation  in  the  winter  of 
1829-30. 

"VVe  have  seen  how  Calhoun  retired  from  the  con- 
test for  the  presidency  with  apparent  gracefulness, 
and  there  were  those  who  supposed  he  had  elimi- 
nated himself  from  the  struggle  for  the  succession. 
This  was  by  no  means  the  case.  Under  the  circum- 
stances Jackson  seemed  a  desirable  stop -gap  and 
Calhoun  and  his  friends  were  perfectly  willing  to 
have  him  serve  a  term  while  they  perfected  their 
plans  a  little  better.  Jackson  was  an  old  man  and 
far  from  vigorous.  He  had  at  first  no  idea  of  ac- 
cepting a  second  nomination.  His  beloved  wife 
was  dead,  his  health  was  poor  and  he  was  content 
to  enjoy  the  distinguished  honor  for  a  single  term. 
But  for  the  nature  of  the  opposition  it  is  not  likely 
that  he  would  have  entered  the  lists  a  second  time. 
An  arrogant  man  in  some  respects,  he  was  gentle  in 
his  demeanor  toward  friends  and  was  more  cultured 
than  his  enemies  supposed.  He  could  stand  almost 
anything  but  imputations  against  his  honor  or  in- 
tegrity, or  an  attack  upon  the  motives  of  his  public 
actions.    He  loved  a  fight  in  secret  as  well  as  in  the 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  75 

open,  and  was  no  mean  antagonist  as  all  his  oppo- 
nents had  discovered  ;  but  he  had  no  love  for  the 
devious  ways  of  politics  unless  he  was  forced  to 
employ  them  on  his  own  account.  At  his  inaugu- 
ration he  was  well  affected  toward  Calhoun,  and  it 
was  some  time  before  he  discovered  that  the  South 
Carolinian  was  not  so  true  a  friend  as  he  thought. 

Politics  for  their  own  sake  employed  more  of  the 
attention  of  public  men  in  that  day  than  now. 
There  was  a  lust  of  power  and  an  ambition  for 
preferment  that  now  tend  to  disappear.  For 
personal  profit  politicians  and  statesmen  contend 
vigorously,  but  there  is  less  direct  striving  in  the 
open  for  the  presidency  and  other  honorable  offices. 
Calhoun  had  lost  his  earlier  frankness  of  manner 
and  surrendered  his  liberal  views  on  national  ques- 
tions. He  was  becoming  less  and  less  a  national 
statesman,  more  and  more  a  speculative  philoso- 
pher, and  his  mind  was  more  exclusively  turning 
toward  the  interests  of  the  South, — toward  cotton 
and  the  peculiar  institution  of  slavery.  On  the 
whole,  he  was  a  better  man  than  the  Korth  for  many 
years  was  willing  to  believe.  He  devoted  the 
best  twenty  years  of  his  life  to  expounding  and 
propagating  the  doctrine  of  nullification  which  was 
only,  so  far  as  he  would  admit,  a  purely  intellectual 


76  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

and  moral  denial  by  the  states  of  the  right  of  the 
Federal  government  to  infringe  on  their  reserved 
rights.  He  did  not  believe  in  forcible  resistance  to 
national  authority — so  he  said — but  unless  this 
was  employed  his  theories  fell  to  the  ground. 
Academic  opposition  in  statecraft  is  silly,  and 
though  to  the  last  Calhoun  professed  himself  a 
Unionist  he  developed  a  school  of  politicians  who 
were  ready  to  carry  his  doctrines  to  their  legitimate 
and  practical  conclusion.  Even  Jefferson  Davis 
twenty  years  later  called  nullification  absurd,  and 
admitted  that  the  only  alternative  was  revolution 
which  he  tried  as  a  last  resource. 

Much  of  the  difficulty  which  now  arose,  and 
which  continued  for  a  generation  and  more,  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  there  were  in  this  country  two 
separate  and  distinct  civilizations.  The  North  com- 
prised a  number  of  states  which  were  republics  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  term.  The  towns  or  townships 
were  as  a  rule  pure  democracies  and  the  state  gov- 
ernments rested  upon  the  just  consent  of  the 
governed,  affected  only  by  the  political  machina- 
tion of  the  age.  As  perhaps  neither  party  was  in 
the  latter  respect  any  better  than  the  other  there 
occurred  as  a  rule  that  '^  cancellation'^  of  fraud,  im- 
position and  undue  influence  which  is  requisite  to 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  77 

maintain  anything  resembling  a  pure  and  righteous 
government.  When  all  or  a  preponderating  portion 
of  the  fraud  is  on  one  side  a  decadence  follows  rap- 
idly ;  but  in  the  North  this  was  on  the  whole  less 
noticeable,  certainly  less  continuous,  because  of  the 
intelligence  of  the  people,  the  general  use  of  the 
franchise  and  the  fact  that  towns  were  so  important 
in  the  entire  scheme  of  government. 

In  the  South  where  the  county  system  prevailed 
politics  had  a  different  aspect.  The  franchise  was 
nominally  extended  to  white  freemen,  but  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  was  controlled  by  the  large  planters 
in  much  the  same  way  as  the  British  suffrage  had  for 
centuries  been  controlled  by  the  great  landowners 
of  England.  Even  the  "poor  whites''  seldom  at- 
tempted any  direct  interference  in  politics.  The 
great  slaveholder  had,  besides  his  black  flock,  a 
body  of  retainers  which  he  could  depend  on  as  cer- 
tainly as  the  feudal  lord  of  the  Middle  Ages.  While 
it  was  customary  for  the  leaders  of  the  Southern  party 
to  berate  the  men  of  the  North  for  their  subserviency 
to  trade,  their  desire  for  wealth  and  their  anxiety 
for  laws  favorable  to  private  interests,  the  truth  is 
that  the  mind  of  the  South  was  wholly  occupied 
with  economic  questions.  Cotton  and  slavery  were 
the  things  which  were  largest  in  their  horizon  and 


78  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

their  opinions  on  these  subjects  came  to  affect  their 
views  of  everything  else.  This  is  not  singular. 
The  North  was  similarly  engaged  in  trying  to  pro- 
mote its  own  interests,  and  the  difficulty  came  from  a 
difference  in  temperament  and  a  divergence  of  opin- 
ion as  to  what  was  really  the  best  national  policy. 
Cotton  was  fast  becoming  king.  Even  under  the 
crude  system  of  cultivation  which  prevailed,  large 
fortunes  were  being  accumulated,  and  the  planter 
was  anxious  to  extend  his  estates,  increase  the 
number  of  his  slaves  and  assume  a  sort  of  hege- 
mony in  his  section. 

Except  in  the  cotton  belt,  and  there  in  only 
minor  degree,  slavery  was  not  in  its  outward  as- 
pects the  horrible  institution  that  it  seems  to  us 
now,  or  as  it  seemed  to  the  Northern  people  at  that 
time.  That  the  negroes  as  a  rule  were  little  above 
the  brute  was  the  common  belief,  and  much  of  the 
treatment  was  brutish  as  compared  with  that  ac- 
corded white  men.  But  all  things  are  relative,  and 
if  the  negro  suffered  much  physical  pain,  was  un- 
derfed and  overworked,  according  to  Northern 
standards,  it  must  not  be  assumed  that  the  system 
was  altogether  bad  in  its  economic  phases,  since 
self-interest  led  masters  to  treat  their  slaves  as  well 
as  their  cattle.     Had  the  negro  been  more  enlight- 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  79 

ened,  had  he  been  used  to  better  things,  had  he 
possessed  a  spirit  of  independence  and  had  slavery 
sat  upon  him  like  a  galling  yoke,  the  suffering 
would  have  been  greater ;  but  in  that  case  the  sys- 
tem would  not  long  have  existed  since  he  would 
have  successfully  revolted  against  his  master." 

It  is  of  interest  to  digress  here  and  tell  of  a  move- 
ment inaugurated  by  Benton  in  Missouri  in  1828, 
which  came  very  near  doing  away  with  the  Missouri 
Compromise.      Though  slavery  had  increased  in 
that  state,  it  was  found  that  it  interfered  to  some 
extent  with  immigration,  and  there  were  plenty  of 
arguments  in  favor  of  gradual  abolition.    These 
were  endorsed  by  Benton,  who  at  the  time  of  the 
admission  of  the  state  had  been  the  boldest  of  anti- 
restrictionists.    Perceiving  that  morally  and  eco- 
nomically emancipation  would  be  for  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  Benton  and  a  large  number  of 
the  leading  men  of  Missouri  met  in  conference  and 
agreed  upon  a  policy  of  gradual  emancipation  by 
constitutional  amendment,  which  would  have  led 
the  way  to  similar  action  in  other  border  states. 
The  plans  were  carefully  prepared  and  it  seemed  as 
If  the  clouds  might  lift  from  the  country,  when 
there  occurred  one  of  those  incidents  which  seem 
'Fanny  Kemble,  "  Two  Yeara  on  a  Georgia  Plantation." 


80  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

more  like  fiction  than  real  history.  The  Missouri- 
ans  heard  with  dismay  that  Arthur  Tappan,  the 
merchant  prince  and  philanthi'opist  of  New  York, 
had  entertained  colored  people  at  his  private  table. 
That  ended  the  matter.  No  further  move  was  made, 
and  the  subject  was  dead  for  many  years  afterward.' 

All  institutions  based  on  immoral  or  uneconomic 
conditions  are  timid  and  suspicious.  Slavery  was 
the  corner-stone  of  the  Southern  system  of  industry 
and  commerce,  and  that  it  was  unsafe  was  freely 
admitted,  except  in  partisan  debate.  It  must  be 
increasingly  safeguarded,  explained  and  apologized 
for  with  the  result  that  the  slave  owner  was  angered 
and  embittered,  because  he  thought  that  he  was 
being  constantly  assailed  by  those  who  pretended 
to  be  holier  than  he.  Such  criticism  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  things  in  the  world  to  endure  with 
equanimity  and  self-possession,  and  forbearance 
was  not  the  chief  virtue  of  the  South.  Now  it  is 
not  true  that  at  this  time  there  was  any  excess  of 
individual  virtue  on  the  part  of  the  North.  Most 
Northern  people  who  went  South  became  slave- 
holders. Most  Southern  men  carried  on  business 
with  the  North  and  the  alliance  was  close.  It  is 
true,  however,  that  for  the  advantage  the  South  may 

*  "  History  of  Missouri,"  American  Commonwealth  Series. 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  81 

have  had  in  the  way  of  human  slavery,  and  in  its 
increased  political  power,  which  was  gained  by 
counting  three-fifths  of  the  slaves,  the  North  felt 
that  it  should  enjoy  protection  to  its  industries. 
The  North  was  more  shrewd  and  adventurous,  far 
more  successful  in  business,  and  the  westward  ex- 
pansion of  the  population  was  constantly  inuring 
to  the  benefit  of  the  free  states. 

So  long  as  the  Virginia  dynasty  was  in  power  the 
South  had  no  fear.  Monroe  had,  however,  proved 
intractable  to  some  extent  and  the  younger  Adams 
was  utterly  opposed  to  the  Southern  policies.  See- 
ing that  the  South  had  been  in  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment practically  the  whole  period  of  our  na- 
tional existence  and  that  Jackson  himself  was  a 
Southern  man  and  a  slaveholder,  it  is  peculiar 
that  the  dread  of  any  should  have  been  aroused 
over  the  loss  of  political  authority.  That  fear  was 
less  influential  in  shaping  coming  events  than  the 
desire  of  particular  Southern  leaders  to  gain  place 
and  power,  and  they  affected  to  believe  many  things 
which  made  their  conduct  more  or  less  necessary 
and  which  were  most  of  them  miserable  ghosts. 

The  actual  fact  was  that  Calhoun  desired  the 
presidency,  and  his  many  friends  wished  to  partici- 
pate in  the  distribution  of  the  patronage.     This 


82  THOMAS  H.  BENTOK 

was  not  for  financial  reasons,  since  emoluments  of 
of&ce  were  then  very  small,  but  because  of  lust  of 
power.  It  was  peculiarly  true  that  Southern  men 
loved  promotion,  because  of  their  political  institu- 
tions which  in  the  aggregate  developed  an  office- 
holding  class  and  reduced  the  ordinary  voter  to  a 
subordinate  place. 

The  sectional  question  was  soon  to  make  its  ap- 
pearance in  Congress  in  a  very  virulent  form.  The 
matter  of  the  public  lands  was  ever  dear  to  Benton 
and  anything  that  affected  them  was  certain  to  receive 
his  immediate  attention.  He  had  not  at  this  time 
succeeded  in  securing  all  of  the  legislation  for  which 
he  labored,  but  his  ten  years  had  resulted  in  a  much 
more  liberal  policy  than  formerly.  Under  his 
system  the  individual  homesteads  were  rapidly 
growing  in  number  in  all  parts  of  the  West.  The 
stream  of  emigration  was  flowing  constantly  toward 
the  setting  sun,  and  most  of  the  foreigners  who  came 
to  this  country  hastened  to  secure  the  cheap  and 
good  lands.  At  the  same  time  New  England  was 
being  constantly  denuded  of  its  younger  people 
who  went  West  on  parallels  of  latitude.  The 
South  was  slower  to  take  advantage  of  its  op- 
portunities but  the  border  states,  especially  Ken- 
tucky, were  filling  up  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri. 


JACKSON'S  RIGHT  ARM  83 

Here  was  a  condition  which  made  some  of  the 
New  England  leaders  groan.  The  youth  and 
strength  of  the  section  were  going  West  and  it  was 
evident  that  the  relative  importance  of  the  East 
would  soon  be  lost.  It  is  strange  that  there  was  no 
confidence  in  the  institutions  which  these  young 
people  had  absorbed  at  home,  no  belief  that  New 
England  principles  would  be  carried  to  the  far 
West.  On  the  contrary  there  was  a  feeling  that 
while  there  had  long  been  a  North  and  a  South,  there 
would  now  be  also  a  West,  and  a  three-cornered 
contest  was  certain  to  ensue  in  which  the  older 
states  were  likely  to  be  worsted.  This  situation 
was  not  to  be  contemplated  with  equanimity  for  a 
moment,  and  the  outcome  of  the  opposition  to  the 
new  order  of  things  was  a  resolution  offered  by 
Senator  Foot,  of  Connecticut,  to  the  effect  that  the 
sale  of  public  lands  should  be  restricted  to  those  in 
the  market  and  that  the  of&ce  of  the  public  sur- 
veyor should  be  abolished.  This  meant  relegating 
the  whole  of  the  unsurveyed  public  domain  to 
chaos, — taking  it  out  of  any  possible  political  affili- 
ation for  the  immediate  future.  It  was  to  be  an 
artificial  barrier  placed  across  the  pathway  of  de- 
velopment for  the  benefit  of  the  older  Eastern  states. 
The  motive  of  the  resolution  was  largely  political, 


84  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

but  tlie  author  could  not  have  imagiiied  the  results 
which  were  to  follow.  The  debate  opened  at  once 
and  lasted  for  a  long  time,  during  which  nearly 
everything  but  the  land  question  was  taken  up  in 
detail. 

Benton,  ever  impetuous  and  more  than  ready  to 
speak,  was  the  first  to  take  the  floor.  He  opposed 
the  resolution  not  only  with  all  the  logic  and  prac- 
tical wisdom  of  which  he  was  possessed  but  with 
more  physical  energy  and  objurgation  than  at  first 
seemed  necessary.  He  raged  up  and  down  the  semi- 
circular chamber  and  talked  in  most  extravagant 
language.  He  spoke  not  only  against  the  principle 
of  the  resolution,  but  he  gave  some  vivid  pictures 
of  the  actual  results  of  the  existing  policy  by 
which  the  national  debt  was  being  extinguished 
and  plenty  was  being  cast  over  a  smiling  land. 
Here  he  was  in  his  element  and  his  abilities  as  an 
actor  stood  him  in  excellent  stead.  He  was  more 
vociferous  than  may  have  been  required,  but  in 
truth  he  was  as  earnest  as  an  apostle  and  sincerely 
anxious  to  denounce  any  restriction  upon  the  ex- 
tension of  the  country.  He  saw  nothing  in  the 
whole  matter  but  an  attack  on  the  West  of  which 
he  believed  himself  to  be  the  leading  exponent. 

It  ought  to  be  said  that  the  government  survey 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  85 

by  townships,  sections  and  ^^ forties"  was  an  insti- 
tution the  value  of  which  can  hardly  be  over-esti- 
mated in  considering  the  growth  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  the  climax  of  labor  saving  invention 
as  applied  to  population  extension  and  to  have  re- 
jected it  at  this  time  would  have  resulted  in  worse 
disasters  than  even  Benton  imagined.  The  princi- 
ple of  least  resistance  never  worked  to  better  ad- 
vantage than  in  this  method  of  distributing  the 
public  domain. 

While  Benton,  ^^  in  a  fine  frenzy  rolling,"  was  at- 
tacking this  resolution,  Calhoun  sat  in  the  chair  wait- 
ing for  a  political  vantage  point.  It  came  sooner 
than  he  had  anticipated,  and  from  an  unexpected 
quarter.  The  subject  of  slavery  had  been  injected 
into  the  debate, — sure  to  be  the  case  when  territory 
was  involved.  In  a  brief  speech  on  the  subj  ect,  Web- 
ster, without  that  preparation  which  he  ought  to 
have  had,  announced  that  the  doctrine  of  freedom  of 
territory  was  a  :N'orthern  one  ;  that  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  by  which  slavery  was  forever  prohibited  in 
the  ISTorthwest  Territory,  was  introduced  and  car- 
ried by  Northern  votes  alone.  This  was  a  singular 
lapse  upon  the  part  of  the  ^'descended  god,"  who 
was  beginning  to  feel  that  the  segis  was  in  his 
rightful  possession.     It  was  due  to  carelessness  and 


86  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

misapprehension  which  lasted  for  many  years,  and 
by  which  New  England  men,  without  much  contra- 
diction, constantly  ascribed  all  the  political  virtues 
and  accomplishments  of  the  nation  to  their  own 
section.  We  can  scarcely  blame  New  England  for 
this,  since  she  was  so  little  disputed  at  the  time;  but 
history  has  not  been  able  to  sustain  all  the  claims 
so  largely  and  vociferously  put  forth  in  her  behalf. 
In  asserting  therefore  that  freedom  in  the  Northwest 
Territory  was  a  Northern  measure,  Webster  made 
a  mistake,  but  a  natural  one.  This  gave  Benton 
the  opportunity  he  sought,  and  he  delved  into 
history  and  musty  records  with  more  enthusiasm 
and  love  of  detail  than  Webster  could  ever  com- 
mand. In  a  second  speech  he  showed  that  Webster 
was  entirely  wrong  ;  that  the  proposition  emanated 
from  Jefferson  ;  that  at  the  last  it  was  unanimously 
adopted  ;  and  that  the  South  was  as  much  entitled 
to  credit  for  the  measure  as  the  North,  perhaps  in 
the  last  analysis  to  greater  credit.  To  this  Webster 
answered  not  a  word  either  in  the  way  of  explanation 
or  apology.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  convinced, 
but  those  were  not  the  days  when  a  man  felt  it 
incumbent  upon  him  to  admit  that  he  was  in  the 
wrong. 
K  the  discussion  had  gone  no  further  we  should 


JACKSON'S  RIGHT  AEM  87 

never  have  heard  of  it  in  history.  That  it  was 
extended  and  widened  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
Calhoun  saw  a  chance  at  this  point  to  exert  him- 
self in  favor  of  his  particular  propaganda.  This 
was  entirely  legitimate ;  criticism  must  lie  only 
against  the  methods  used.  The  debate  had  intro- 
duced the  matter  of  free  and  slave  states,  and  that 
was  enough  for  the  purposes  of  the  Calhoun  party. 
They  were  sufficiently  shrewd  to  see  that  Southern 
political  control  could  come  only  by  attaching  to 
the  Southern  interest  a  portion  of  the  growing 
West,  which  was  the  disturbing  factor  in  the 
political  balance.  The  injection  of  the  question  of 
the  restriction  of  land  sales  made  an  issue  which 
was  not  only  revolting  to  the  West,  but  seemed 
almost  providential  to  the  followers  of  Calhoun. 
Here  originated  the  idea  of  the  coalition  between 
the  South  and  the  West,  which  figured  so  largely  in 
the  debates  and  more  or  less  in  actual  politics  for  a 
long  time  to  come.  Calhoun  was  represented  on 
the  floor  by  Eobert  Y.  Hayne,  also  of  South 
Carolina,  a  man  of  many  resources  intellectually, 
of  engaging  personality,  and  devoted  to  his  chief. 
There  were  men  in  that  Senate  of  more  intellectual 
and  moral  power  than  Hayne,  but  they  have  been 
forgotten,  while  he  is  remembered  because  of  the 


88  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

contest  which  has  lastingly  linked  his  name  with 
that  of  Webster.  This  young  man  took  up  the 
gauntlet  and  made  some  references  to  nullification 
in  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Eesolutions  of  1798, 
looking  upon  them  as  charters  of  more  importance 
than  the  Constitution,  since  they  were  supposed  to 
have  been  the  work  of  Jefferson  and  Madison 
respectively,  men  whose  opinions  were  then  held  in 
the  highest  esteem  by  a  great  majority  of  the  elec- 
tors of  all  sections. 

This  introduction  of  the  term  ''nullification  "  into 
the  debate  was  not  fortunate  for  the  slavery  propa- 
gandists. It  roused  the  sleeping  lion  in  Webster, 
who  cared  less  for  mere  technicalities  than  for  broad 
principles.  To  him  nullification  was  maddening, 
and  in  desultory  debates  he  expressed  his  views  in  a 
way  that  seemed  to  require  an  extended  reply.  This 
was  supplied  by  Hayne,  not  so  much  on  his  own 
account,  as  in  his  capacity  of  mouthpiece  of 
Calhoun,  whom  he  consulted  at  every  stage  of  the 
contest  and  from  whom  through  the  long  debate  he 
nightly  drew  inspiration. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  Hayne  discussed  the 
subject  in  question  before  the  Senate  in  an  ad- 
mirable manner.  But  neither  he  nor  any  one 
else  could  be  confined  to  the  matter  of  limiting  the 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  89 

sales  of  public  lands,  and  must  needs  run  off  into  a 
discussion  of  the  whole  subject  of  politics  past, 
present  and  future.  Ill  fared  it  with  this  Eoderick 
when  he  brought  up  the  subject  of  nullification 
as  laid  down  in  the  aforesaid  Eesolutions  of  1798, 
and  worse  when  he  introduced  the  matter  of  the 
Hartford  Convention,  which  seemed  a  paj"ticularly 
fitting  weapon  with  which  to  attack  a  New  England 
senator.  Now  the  truth  is  that  the  Hartford  Con- 
vention, though  not  officially  representing  New 
England,  had  just  enough  official  status  to  make  it 
seem  formidable  at  the  time  it  met.  New  England 
was  disaffected  regarding  the  War  of  1812,  and 
though  doing  her  share  in  the  field,  there  was  a 
feeling  of  revolt  in  the  whole  section  that  was  well 
manifested  in  the  Hartford  Convention.  It  was 
most  fortunate  for  New  England  that  before  that 
body  was  enabled  to  lay  its  propositions  before 
Congress  news  came  of  the  peace.  After  that  there 
were  somewhat  fewer  than  forty  very  respectable 
men  of  New  England  who  were  only  too  glad  to 
court  oblivion.  The  serious  student  must  admit  that 
if  the  war  had  continued  in  a  disastrous  way  for  a 
year  longer  the  Hartford  Convention  might  have 
reassembled  and  recommended  dissolution  in  some 
way  or  other,  and  there  is  much  reason  to  believe 


90  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

that  this  might  have  been  the  result.  At  least  a 
most  violent  disturbance  would  have  ensued.  For- 
tunately none  of  these  things  happened,  and  in  the 
joy  over  the  cessation  of  hostilities  the  obliquity  of 
New  England  had  been  for  the  time  forgotten. ' 

When  Hayne  brought  up  the  matter  he  expected 
that  Webster  would  not  only  apologize  for  his  sec- 
tion but  attack  the  South.  That  godlike  statesman 
was  too  shrewd  for  this.  In  a  long  and  earnest 
speech  he  attempted  to  keep  the  subject  within 
bounds,  and  to  uproot  the  notion  that  there  was 
anywhere  in  the  North  an  idea  of  separation  or 
that  there  were  actual  warring  and  conflicting  inter- 
ests which  were  to  be  affected  by  the  legislation  pro- 
posed. These  earlier  speeches  were  on  both  sides 
a  mixture  of  the  academic  and  the  practical.  Hayne, 
taking  the  initiative,  managed  to  make  a  fine  im- 
pression because  he  had  the  popular  side  on 
the  main  question.  He  returned  to  the  attack. 
There  was  a  degree  of  formality  and  imperson- 
ality in  debate  in  those  days  which  deceived  no  one 
as  to  the  intent  of  the  participators.  The  contest 
was  becoming  warm  and  it  was  now  Calhoun  against 
Webster.  In  a  colloquy  during  Hayne' s  speech 
Webster  tried  to  corner  him,  to  find  out  whether 
^  Henry  Adams,  ' '  History  of  the  United  States. '  * 


JACKSON'S  RIGHT  AEM  91 

he  considered  nulliiication  justiHable  on  the  ground 
of  the  Hartford  Convention.  Hayne  was  too  wary 
to  be  caught  in  such  a  trap  and  evaded  the  issue. 
He  could  not  claim  any  actual  legislative  sanction 
for  the  Resolutions  of  1798,  and  if  he  avowed  that 
nullification  was  the  foundation  stone  of  the  Hart- 
ford Convention,  it  was  likely  he  would  be  thrown 
out  of  court  by  a  repudiation  of  that  unoflicial  and 
officious  assemblage  which  all  New  England  was 
anxious  and  in  good  i)osition  to  renounce.  Hayne 
parried  the  thrust,  but  proceeded  to  attack  New  Eng- 
land for  her  recreancy  in  the  late  war,  and  to  show 
in  general  how  much  more  the  nation  owed  to  the 
South  than  to  the  North.  It  was  a  brilliant  speech, 
a  clever  presentation  of  a  specious  argument,  but 
it  had  the  fatal  defect  of  trying  to  prove  too  much. 
It  was  characteristic  of  the  magnitude  of  Web- 
ster's appreciation  of  the  whole  subject  and  its  de- 
tails that  he  refused  to  be  drawn  into  any  contro- 
versy over  patriotic  bookkeeping.  He  had  no  mind 
for  settling  petty  balances  by  weight  of  sword  or 
glory.  He  came  to  the  task  with  a  brain  stored  full 
of  the  richest  imagery  and  was  dominated  by  the 
broadest  patriotism.  It  should  be  said  in  all  hon- 
esty that  Webster  was  to  a  great  extent  the  product 
of  his  environment.     We  can  believe  that  if  he  and 


92  THOMAS  H.  BEKTON 

Calhoun  had  been  exchanged  in  their  cradles  the 
individual  result  would  have  been  very  different. 
Both  were  intellectual  giants  and  both  had  primarily 
the  interests  of  their  own  sections  at  heart.  It  may 
be  that  Calhoun  would  never  have  attained  to  the 
majestic  intellectual  stature  of  Webster  in  any 
case :  it  is  also  doubtful  whether  Webster  could 
ever  have  reduced  the  whole  question  of  national 
government  to  Calhoun's  basis.  But  on  the 
whole  it  may  be  said  that  the  two  men  repre- 
sented two  sectional  ideas,  although  it  was  the 
good  fortune  of  Webster  to  be  greater  than  his 
party,  while  Calhoun  was  his  party.  Webster  had 
many  limitations  but  when  he  was  stirred  to  the 
depths  he  was  no  section's  candidate,  no  man's  ad- 
herent ;  he  saw  before  him  but  one  star  in  the 
horizon,  and  that  was  the  Union,  which  he  pursued 
and  loved  and  adored,  and  well  had  it  been  for  his 
fame  had  that  been  the  sum  of  his  ambitions.  At 
this  time  he  seems  to  have  been  devoid  of  personal 
aspiration  and,  aside  from  the  defense  of  his  own 
section,  was  actuated  solely  by  patriotic  motives. 
His  final  reply  to  Hayne  which  was  dragged  from 
him  under  duress  and  earlier  than  he  wished  re- 
quired that  he  state  once  and  for  all  the  position  of 
the  people  of  the  North  in  relation  to  the  growth  of 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  93 

the  republic,  their  views  on  slavery  as  a  political 
asset  and  on  nullification  as  a  measure  tending  to 
national  bankruptcy.  He  was  obliged  in  this  case 
to  eliminate  much  that  had  been  discussed  and  to 
ignore  entirely  the  original  subject  of  debate, 
which  as  he  humorously  said  was  the  only  one  that 
had  not  been  taken  up  in  the  whole  controversy. 

With  great  shrewdness  and  with  a  loftiness  of 
mind  that  is  admirable  to  contemplate  Webster 
went  to  the  marrow  of  the  real  contention  that  had 
arisen.  He  refused  to  uphold  the  Hartford  Con- 
vention, and  declined  absolutely  to  enter  upon  any 
encomiums  upon  Massachusetts  or  the  rest  of  that 
sisterhood.  Eather  did  he  prefer  to  spend  his 
time  in  lauding  the  early  patriotism  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and  in  complimenting  her  sons  who  had  done 
so  much  to  establish  national  liberties.  Turning 
from  any  specious  discussion  of  events,  he  lifted  the 
whole  plane  of  debate  into  one  so  high  that  it  could 
not  but  inspire  his  opponents.  His  plea  was  for  a 
nation  composed  of  states  and  not  for  a  number  of 
states  loosely  confederated  as  a  nation.  He  held  up 
the  Union  in  a  sense  which  no  human  mind  had 
before  conceived  and  no  human  voice  had  ever  por- 
trayed. He  painted  a  picture  which  ever  since  has 
been  unfading,  and  he  erected  the  temple  of  the  re- 


94  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

public  on  foundations  which  are  still  lasting.  Prac- 
tically every  good  American  now  living  has  been 
brought  up  directly  or  indirectly  upon  the  teachings 
of  Webster  on  this  occasion,  but  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  at  this  time  there  was  scarcely  any 
man  who  did  not  love  his  state  beyond  the  nation. 

Webster  closed  with  that  peroration  which  is  still 
written  in  letters  of  gold,  and  which  served  thirty 
years  later  to  unite  many  states  for  the  defense  of 
the  nation,  words  which  in  their  rich  imagery  and 
in  their  practical  application  have  few  parallels  in 
all  literature: — 

^' While  the  Union  lasts,  we  have  high,  excit- 
ing, gratifying  prospects  spread  out  before  us, 
for  us  and  our  children.  Beyond  that  I  seek  not 
to  penetrate  the  veil.  God  grant  that  in  my  day, 
at  least,  that  curtain  may  not  rise  !  God  grant 
that  on  my  vision  never  may  be  opened  what  lies 
behind  !  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  be- 
hold for  the  last  time  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not 
see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored 
fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union  ;  on  States  dis- 
severed, discordant,  belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with 
civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  fraternal 
blood  !  Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance 
rather  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  republic, 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  95 

now  known  and  honored  throughout  the  earth,  still 
full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and  trophies  streaming 
in  their  original  lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  or 
polluted,  nor  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its 
motto  no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as  ^  What 
is  all  this  worth?'  nor  those  other  words  of 
delusion  and  folly,  '  Liberty  first  and  Union  after- 
ward '  ;  but  everywhere,  spread  all  over  in  char- 
acters of  living  light,  blazing  on  aU  its  ample  folds, 
as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land,  and  in 
every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that  other 
sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American  heart,— 
Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  in- 
separable! '' 

It  is  remarkable  that  after  Benton  had  listened 
to  this  magnificent  burst  of  eloquence,  which 
really  expressed  his  own  views,  he  rose  and 
ridiculed  it  with  that  rather  coarse  sort  of  wit  in 
those  days  characteristic  of  his  speeches.  He  felt 
that  here  was  a  chance  for  invective  and  without 
the  slightest  fear  he  called  those  closing  sentences 
of  Webster's  mere  painted  pictures,  balderdash 
and  manufactured  sentiment  gotten  up  for  the  pur- 
pose of  home  consumption.  Benton  was  sincere  in 
this.  In  all  this  time  he  could  not  perceive  that 
Calhoun  and  his  party  had  a  deeper  purpose,  and 


96  THOMAS  H.  BE:^T0N 

to  defeat  the  Foot  Resolution  he  was  willingly  led 
into  things  which  he  afterward  regretted.  Excerpts 
from  his  remarks  are  worth  quoting.  They  form  a 
strange  anti-climax  to  Webster's  peroration.  He 
said  : 

"Among  the  novelties  of  this  debate,  is  that 
part  of  the  speech  of  the  Senator  from  Massachu- 
setts which  dwells  with  such  elaboration  of  declam- 
ation and  ornament,  upon  the  love  and  blessings 
of  union — the  hatred  and  horror  of  disunion.  It 
was  a  part  of  the  senator's  speech  which  brought 
into  full  play  the  favorite  Ciceronian  figure  of  am- 
plification. It  was  up  to  the  rule  in  that  particular. 
But,  it  seemed  to  me,  that  there  was  another  rule, 
and  a  higher,  and  a  precedent  one,  which  it  vio- 
lated. It  was  the  rule  of  propriety ;  that  rule 
which  requires  the  fitness  of  things  to  be  consid- 
ered ;  which  requires  the  time,  the  place,  the  sub- 
ject, and  the  audience,  to  be  considered  ;  and  con- 
demns the  delivery  of  the  argument,  and  all  its 
flowers,  if  it  fails  in  congruence  to  these  particulars. 
I  thought  the  essay  upon  union  and  disunion  had 
so  failed.  It  came  to  us  when  we  were  not  pre- 
pared for  it ;  when  there  was  nothing  in  the  Senate 
nor  in  the  country  to  grace  its  introduction  ;  noth- 
ing to  give,  or  to  receive,  effect  to,  or  from,  the 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  97 

impassioned  scene  that  we  witnessed.  It  may  be, 
it  was  tlie  prophetic  cry  of  the  distracted  daughter 
of  Priam,  breaking  into  the  council,  and  alarm- 
ing its  tranquil  members  with  vaticinations  of  the 
fall  of  Troy  :  but  to  me,  it  all  sounded  like  the  sud- 
den proclamation  for  an  earthquake,  when  the  sun, 
the  earth,  the  air,  announced  no  such  prodigy  ; 
when  all  the  elements  of  nature  were  at  rest,  and 
sweet  repose  pervaded  the  world.  There  was  a 
time,  and  you,  and  I,  and  all  of  us,  did  see  it,  sir, 
when  such  a  speech  would  have  found,  in  its  de- 
livery, every  attribute  of  a  just  and  rigorous  pro- 
priety !  It  was  at  a  time,  when  the  five-striped 
banner  was  waving  over  the  land  of  the  North  ! 
when  the  Hartford  Convention  was  in  session ! 
when  the  language  in  the  capitol  was,  '  Peaceably, 
if  we  can  ;  forcibly,  if  we  must ! '  when  the  cry,  out 
of  doors,  was,  '  The  Potomac  the  boundary ;  the 
negro  states  by  themselves  !  The  Alieghanies  the 
boundary  ;  the  western  savages  by  themselves ! 
The  Mississippi  the  boundary,  let  Missouri  be  gov- 
erned by  a  prefect,  or  given  up  as  a  haunt  for  wild 
beasts ! '  That  time  was  the  fit  occasion  for  this 
speech ;  and  if  it  had  been  delivered  then,  either 
in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  or  in 
the  den  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  or  in  the  high- 


98  THOIVIAS  H.  BENTON 

way  among  the  bearers  and  followers  of  the  five- 
striped  banner,  what  effects  must  it  not  have  pro- 
duced !  What  terror  and  consternation  among  the 
plotters  of  disunion  !  But,  here,  in  this  loyal  and 
quiet  assemblage,  in  this  season  of  general  tran- 
quillity and  universal  allegiance,  the  whole  per- 
formance has  lost  its  effect  for  want  of  af&nity, 
connection,  or  relation,  to  any  subject  depending,  or 
sentiment  expressed,  in  the  Senate ;  for  want  of 
any  application,  or  reference,  to  any  event  impend- 
ing in  the  country." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Benton  often  regretted 
this  speech.  In  vain  did  some  of  his  friends  tell 
him  that  not  only  was  he  mistaken  about  the  nature 
of  the  existing  controversy,  but  that  nullification 
was  to  be  brought  forward  as  a  live  issue  and  the 
President  attacked  because  of  alleged  usurpations 
of  of&ce.  Benton  was  hard-headed  and  optimistic. 
He  thought  Calhoun  was  actuated  simply  by  a  lit- 
tle excess  of  zeal  so  that  he  might  curb  the  New 
Englanders.  On  the  whole  when  the  debate  was 
over,  and  the  Foot  Eesolution  had  been  buried, 
Benton  was  congratulating  himself  that  affairs  had 
turned  in  his  favor,  and  was  still  unconscious  that 
Jackson  was  really  the  object  of  the  objurgations  of 
the  senatorial   clique.     Indeed,    it  was  not   until 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  99 

April  when  the  customary  dinner  in  honor  of  Jef- 
ferson's  birthday  was  given  that  he  learned  the 
truth. 

That  dinner  had  been  planned  long  in  advance. 
Calhoun  had  determined  to  drive  Jackson  into  a  cor- 
ner. The  latter  was  to  give  a  toast,  and  while  he  was 
hardly  expected  to  say  anything  radical,  he  was  to  lis- 
ten to  other  toasts  by  so  many  important  men  setting 
forth  the  Democratic  doctrine,  that  he  would  feel 
overpowered  by  the  authorities  ranged  against 
him.  In  fact,  this  backwoodsman,  having  served 
his  purpose,  was  to  be  tossed  aside,  and  the  real 
gentry  and  statesmen  of  the  South  were  once  more 
to  assume  control. 

Benton  went  to  this  dinner  in  perfect  guileless- 
ness.  He  arrived  early  and  was  surprised  to  find 
that  he  had  come  to  a  caucus  rather  than  to  a  feast. 
When  some  of  the  invited  guests  learned  of  the 
plan  they  left  in  high  dudgeon.  Most  of  them, 
however,  were  privy  to  the  scheme,  but  were  com- 
pletely disconcerted  at  the  last  moment  when  the 
President  was  asked  for  a  toast  and  offered  the 
memorable  words : 

"Our  federal  union — it  must  and  shall  be  pre- 
served." 

This,  as  has  been  frequently  said,  was  like  the 


100  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOX 

ghost  of  Bauquo  aj)peariug  at  Macbeth' s  banquet. 
It  disconcerted  all  and  especially  Calhoun  who 
tried  to  evade  the  sentiment  by  proposing  a  toast 
in  which  the  rights  of  the  states  were  made  para- 
mount. The  scales  had  now  fallen  from  Benton's 
eyes,  and  for  the  first  time  he  appreciated  that  there 
was  a  serious  movement  on  foot  which  had  for  its 
purpose  the  elevation  of  the  cotton-planters  to 
power.  He  had  been  loath  to  believe  their  purpose, 
but  when  the  fact  was  too  plain  to  ignore,  he  took 
up  the  fight  in  behalf  of  Jackson  and  the  Union. 

Jackson  had  been  suspicious  from  the  first;  in 
fact  he  was  by  nature  as  suspicious  as  Benton  was 
confiding  and  optimistic.  In  making  up  his  cabi- 
net Calhoun's  friends  had  been  given  conspicuous 
representation.  It  was  evident  that  a  rearrange- 
ment must  come,  and  Jackson  only  awaited  the 
time  when  it  would  best  suit  the  political  exigen- 
cies of  the  occasion. 

It  so  happened  that  another  element  was  injected 
into  official  life  which  made  the  problem  easier  of 
solution,  without  bringing  about  party  disaster. 
Mrs.  Eaton,  wife  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  was 
objectionable  to  the  other  women  of  the  official 
circle  and  was  ostracized.  Jackson  tried  to  force 
Mrs.  Eaton's  social  recognition.     Van  Buren,  Sec- 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  101 

retary  of  State,  as  a  widower  also  did  his  best  to 
effect  this  object.  He  made  himself  Mrs.  Eaton's 
escort  at  social  ceremonies,  and  every  friend  of 
Jackson  of  the  male  sex  endeavored  to  pay  her  at- 
tention, and  if  possible  give  her  social  position. 
Their  efforts  were  entirely  ineffectual.  In  the  end 
the  cabinet  must  break  up,  and  the  three  friends  of 
Calhoun  were  dismissed.  Eaton  and  Van  Buren 
also  left,  the  latter  being  made  Minister  to  England. 
The  cabinet  was  completely  reconstructed,  Benton 
refusing  a  seat  in  it.  This  experience  had  a  marked 
effect  on  Jackson.  Throughout  the  remainder  of 
his  two  terms  his  cabinet  ministers  were  as  a  rule 
mere  clerks,  and  were  seldom  admitted  into  the 
close  circle  of  his  political  friends.  He  had  a 
^'Kitchen  Cabinet,"  to  the  members  of  which  he 
unburdened  himself ;  they  with  him  arranged  every 
move  on  the  political  chess-board.  Calhoun  and 
his  party  were  deposed  and  denied  further  official 
favors,  but  it  was  soon  seen  that  this  was  not 
enough.  It  was  necessary  for  the  administration 
to  take  an  aggressive  attitude  and  go  farther. 
Calhoun  and  his  friends  believed  themselves 
strongly  entrenched  and  had  no  idea  that  they  could 
be  entirely  displaced.  A  lesser  man  than  Jackson 
would  have  met  the  fate  which  was  prepared  for 


102  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

him  at  the  table  of  his  enemies,  but  the  ^^  Eagle 
of  Tennessee"  was  not  to  be  caught  off  his  guard. 
He  knew  little,  it  is  true,  of  the  wiles  of  politics 
and  had  figured  little  in  national  affairs ;  but  he 
had  a  profound  knowledge  of  human  nature,  was  a 
born  warrior  and  took  up  the  gage  so  promptly 
that  it  almost  took  away  the  breath  of  his  enemies. 
This  was  his  manner  of  doing  it.  The  press  of 
the  day  was  in  many  respects  feeble  compared  with 
that  of  the  present  time.  The  newspapers  were  few 
and  the  news  service  was  weak  in  comparison  with 
modern  standards,  but  they  had  an  influence  not 
less  important  than  now.  The  fact  that  there  were 
so  few  journals  made  the  power  of  each  more  com- 
manding than  in  later  years.  In  those  days  the 
administration  newspaper  at  the  capital  had  a 
strong  position  because  it  was  acquainted  with  the 
inner  secrets  and  could  give  the  key-note  to  cam- 
paigns in  advance.  In  addition  the  public  printing 
was  valuable  enough  to  make  the  owner  almost 
a  fortune  in  a  single  term.  At  this  time  the  Tele- 
graph was  the  official  organ  in  Washington,  and  its 
editor  had  joined  forces  with  Calhoun  in  what  was 
supposed  to  be  a  coalition  that  would  completely 
submerge  the  Jacksonians.  The  plan  was  long 
kept  a  secret,  and  many  newspapers  throughout  the 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  103 

country  had  been  pledged  to  join  tlie  combination. 
Duff  Green,  editor  of  the  Telegraphy  revealed  the 
scheme  in  an  effort  to  secure  the  adherence  of  one 
of  Jackson's  friends,  then  in  Washington,  who  was 
going  to  Kentucky  to  conduct  a  newspaper  in  favor 
of  the  Calhoun  forces.  The  latter  not  only  refused 
but  brought  the  plot  to  the  attention  of  Jackson 
who  made  up  his  mind  instantly  that  he  would 
have  a  newspaper  of  his  own. 

In  looking  around  for  an  editor  he  was  recom- 
mended to  secure  Francis  P.  Blair,  an  occasional 
contributor  to  the  Argus,  of  Frankfort,  Kentucky, 
who  wielded  a  pen  with  much  vigor  and  logical 
force.  Mr.  Blair  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  position 
in  Kentucky,  who  had  no  desire  to  leave  his  planta- 
tion and  his  snug  official  berth ;  but  seeing  that 
Jackson  needed  friends  and  that  the  fight  was  to  be 
vigorous,  he  abandoned  his  home,  moved  to  Wash- 
ington and  established  the  Globe  as  an  administra- 
tion organ,  which  soon  came  to  be  the  most  influ- 
ential newspaper  the  country  had  ever  known.  He 
found  in  Benton  a  warm  coadjutor.  The  latter 
wrote  for  him  frequently  and  gave  him  much  infor- 
mation as  to  the  progress  of  events  at  the  capital. 
Blair  became  a  member  of  the  Kitchen  Cabinet, 
was  one  of  the  notable  men  of  his  day,  and  con- 


104  THOMAS  H.  BENT0:N^ 

tinned  to  wield  an  influence  in  politics  for  many 
years. 

When  the  Senate  met  in  the  winter  of  1831-2 
the  rupture  between  Calhoun  and  Jackson  became 
complete,  their  relations  being  embittered  by  the 
publication  of  documents  on  both  sides.  Jackson 
was  vehement  enough  when  there  was  no  par- 
ticular occasion  for  it,  but  when  aroused  he  be- 
came a  perfect  demon.  If  it  had  not  been  for 
the  coalition  which  Calhoun  formed  against  him;  if 
the  theory  of  nullification  had  not  been  pushed 
so  hard ;  if  the  President  had  been  allowed  to 
conduct  his  administration  in  peace  and  to  have 
retired  gracefully  and  with  honor,  much  of  our 
history  would  now  read  differently.  Because 
Calhoun  despised  Jackson  and  ignored  him  as 
a  man  of  no  political  strength,  the  old  warrior 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  not  only  be  a 
candidate  for  re-election  but  would  put  Calhoun  out 
of  action  altogether  if  he  could.  Just  how  much 
Jackson  was  moved  by  personal  considerations,  and 
how  much  by  those  of  patriotism  will  never  be 
known,  and  it  is  not  essential  for  the  purposes  of 
this  narrative — only  the  results  are  of  importance 
and  they  are  striking  in  the  extreme. 

At  this  session  of  the  Senate,  the  first  coalition  be- 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  AEM  105 

tween  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun  was  made  for  offen- 
sive and  defensive  purposes.  Each  of  these  men  was 
ambitious  for  the  presidency  ;  each  feared  the  others, 
and  there  was  not  only  no  love  lost  betw^een  the 
members  of  the  triumvirate,  but  there  were  years 
when  they  were  scarcely  on  speaking  terms  with 
one  another.  It  suited  their  purposes,  however,  to 
combine  against  Jackson,  being  content  when  he  was 
slain  to  fight  among  themselves  for  the  spoils — a 
situation  which  never  came  to  pass,  for  aU  of  them 
were  killed  politically  in  one  way  or  another  by 
the  man  whom  they  despised,  aided  by  Thomas  H. 
Benton. 

Benton's  leadership  became  masterful  in  the  war 
that  was  made  on  the  confirmation  of  Van  Buren  as 
Minister  to  Great  Britain. 

Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  little  trouble 
about  the  confirmation  of  ministers  when  the  posi- 
tions were  established  by  law.  There  had  been 
some  wrangling  over  the  question  of  sending  any 
ministers  at  all  to  certain  posts,  some  undignified 
behavior  in  making  up  the  mission  to  Ghent,  but 
nothing  further.  Van  Buren  had  gone  to  London 
and  was  serenely  enjoying  his  position,  little  sup- 
posing that  war  was  being  made  upon  him  at  home. 
Benton  was  amazed  at  the  coalition  and  took  up 


106  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

the  fight  with  all  possible  energy.  The  objections 
to  Yan  Buren  were  childish,  and  only  audacious 
spleen  could  account  for  their  recognition  among 
any  body  of  liberal-minded  men.  It  was  consid- 
ered necessary,  however,  to  strike  at  Jackson 
through  Van  Buren,  and  almost  two  months 
were  consumed  in  giving  specious  reasons  for  his 
rejection.  Indeed  some  of  the  friends  of  the  trium- 
virate who  had  little  personal  interest  in  the  matter, 
became  alarmed  and  frequently  expressed  their 
doubts  as  to  the  value  of  the  policy.  Calhoun  was 
firm  and  said  of  the  expected  rejection  of  Yan 
Buren  :  ' '  It  will  kill  him,  kill  him  dead.  He  will 
never  kick,  never  kick." 

Unable  to  prevent  rejection  Benton  succeeded  in 
putting  every  man  possible  on  record.  In  the  long 
list  of  speakers  against  the  minister  are  to  be  found 
the  names  of  nearly  all  the  brilliant  men  of  the 
Senate.  Webster,  Clay,  Ewing,  Clayton,  Freling- 
huysen,  Poindexter,  and  Hayne  were  the  leaders, 
but  there  were  others.  Though  the  majority  was 
ample,  there  were  several  occasions  when  just 
enough  of  the  coalition  members  left  the  Senate 
chamber  to  give  Calhoun  a  chance  for  the  casting 
vote  on  some  proposition  connected  with  the  mat- 
ter, which  he  did  in  order  to  inform  Jackson  that 


JACKSON'S  EIGHT  ARM  107 

he  was  his  arch-enemy.  Immediately  after  the 
final  vote  was  taken  Benton  remarked  to  Moore,  of 
Alabama,  his  next  neighbor  : 

''You  have  broken  a  minister  and  elected  a  vice- 
president.  ' ' 

When  the  situation  was  explained  to  hiiii  Moore 
exclaimed  :  ' '  Why  didn'  t  you  tell  me  that  before  I 
voted  and  I  would  have  voted  the  other  way."  ^ 

Benton's  words  proved  more  than  true,  for  Van 
Buren  became  president  also.  Such  was  the  rec- 
ompense that  came  from  giving  loyal  service  to 
Andrew  Jackson. 

When  rejection  was  certain  Benton  wrote  a  long 
letter  to  Van  Buren  in  which  it  was  suggested  that 
he  become  the  Jacksonian  candidate  for  the  vice- 
presidency,  and  this  seems  to  be  the  first  mention 
of  the  idea.  The  letter  is  full  of  Bentonian  warmth, 
and  these  few  sentences  are  worthy  of  reproduc- 
tion: 

"  You  doubtless  know  what  is  best  for  yourself, 
and  it  does  not  become  me  to  make  suggestions  ;  but 
for  myself,  when  I  find  myself  on  the  bridge  of 
Lodi,  I  neither  stop  to  parley,  nor  turn  back  to 
start  again.  Forward,  is  the  word.  Some  say, 
make    you  governor  of  New  York :   I  say,   you 

1  Benton's  "View." 


108  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

have  been  governor  before ;  that  is  turning  back. 
Some  say,  come  to  the  Senate  in  place  of  some  of 
your  friends ;  I  say,  that  of  itself  will  be  only 
parleying  with  the  enemy  while  on  the  middle  of 
the  bridge,  and  receiving  their  fire.  The  vice- 
presidency  is  the  only  thing,  and  if  a  place  in  the 
Senate  can  be  coupled  with  the  trial  for  that,  then 
a  place  in  the  Senate  might  be  desirable.  The 
Baltimore  Convention  will  meet  in  the  month  of 
May,  and  I  presume  it  will  be  in  the  discretion  of 
your  immediate  friends  in  New  York,  and  your 
leading  friends  here,  to  have  you  nominated  ;  and 
in  all  that  affair  I  think  you  ought  to  be  passive. 
'For  Vice-President,'  on  the  Jackson  ticket,  will 
identify  you  with  him  ;  a  few  cardinal  principles  of 
the  old  Democratic  school  might  make  you  worth 
contending  for  on  your  own  account.  The  dynasty 
of  '98  [the  Federalists]  has  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  in  its  interests  5  and  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  has  drawn  into  its  vortex,  and  wields  at  its 
pleasure,  the  whole  high  tariff  and  Federal  internal 
improvement  partj^  To  set  up  for  yourself,  and  to 
raise  an  interest  which  can  unite  the  scattered  ele- 
ments of  a  nation,  you  will  have  to  take  positions 
which  are  visible,  and  represent  principles  which 
are  felt  and  understood  ;  you  will  have  to  separate 


jackso:n^'S  eight  arm  109 

yourself  from  the  enemy  by  partition  lines  which 
the  people  can  see.  The  dynasty  of  '98,  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  the  high  tariff  party, 
the  Federal  internal  improvement  party,  are 
against  you.  :N'ow,  if  you  are  not  against  them, 
the  people,  and  myself,  as  one  of  the  people,  can 
see  nothing  between  you  and  them  worth  contending 
for,  in  a  national  point  of  view.  This  is  a  very 
plain  letter,  and  if  you  don't  like  it,  you  will  throw 
it  in  the  fire  ;  consider  it  as  not  having  been  writ- 
ten. For  myself,  I  mean  to  retire  upon  my  profes- 
sion, while  I  have  mind  and  body  to  pursue  it ;  but 
I  wish  to  see  the  right  principles  prevail,  and 
friends  instead  of  foes  in  power." 

When  Yan  Buren  heard  of  his  rejection  he  took  it 
calmly  and  came  home  to  realize  how  true  was  the 
statement  of  one  of  his  British  friends  that  it  is 
often  good  for  a  public  man  to  be  made  the  subject 
of  an  outrage.  The  people  as  a  rule  are  sensible 
and  quick  to  resent  injustice. 

Benton  was  disgusted  with  the  whole  affair  and 
though  he  had  achieved  the  leadership  of  his 
faction  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  retire  at  the 
end  of  his  term  and  resume  the  practice  of  law. 
This  idea  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  because  of 
the  urgency  of  public  affairs,  and  he  continued 


110  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

three  more  terms  in  his  seat,  having  many  occa- 
sions in  his  long  career  to  see  the  ti'uth  of  his  para- 
phase  of  the  words  of  Madame  Eoland  : 

^'Oh  politics!   how  much  bamboozling  is  prac- 
ticed in  thy  game  I'^ 


CHAPTEE  YI 

THE  WAR   ON  NULLIFICATION 

The  tariff,  a  mischievous  question  at  so  many- 
periods  in  our  national  history,  precipitated  the 
first  great  contest  between  the  North  and  the  South 
concerning  the  fundamental  nature  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

Henry  Clay,  the  father  of  the  protective  tariff 
system,  had  succeeded  in  securing  the  passage  of  an 
act  in  June,  1832,  which  its  friends  freely  declared 
was  the  most  scientific  ever  devised.  It  was  alleged 
that  the  duties  had  been  so  skilfully  adjusted  that 
the  ]^orthern  manufacturer  got  protection  only 
where  it  was  needed  to  meet  foreign  competition 
and  in  the  proper  percentage,  while  the  consumer 
would  get  many  things  much  cheaper.  Even  in 
paying  for  protected  goods  it  was  argued  that  he 
would  to  some  extent  take  money  out  of  one  pocket 
merely  to  put  it  in  another  through  the  increase  of 
wages  and  of  general  prosperity. 

The  manufacturers  had  not  been  entirely  satisfied 
with  the  tariff— they  never  are— but  they  had  little 


112  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOX 

reason  to  complain  of  this  bill  since  its  duties  were 
the  highest  that  had  ever  been  assessed  and  the  pro- 
tective feature  the  most  prominent. 

The  Southern  people  on  their  side  believed  that 
the  exactions  of  the  new  measure  were  not  only  un- 
reasonable but  also  unconstitutional.  They  were 
the  more  opposed  to  protection  because  it  seemed 
to  them  that  their  market  for  cotton  was  disadvan- 
tageously  affected  by  the  system.  The  planter 
thought  that  he  received  less  than  he  should  for  his 
staple,  while  what  he  must  buy  was  enhanced  in 
price  through  the  tariff. 

The  real  causes  for  grievance  on  the  part  of  the 
South  were  the  impoverishment  of  the  soil  which 
led  to  a  smaller  cotton  crop  ;  the  evil  and  waste  of 
slavery ;  and  the  indolence  of  the  people,  induced 
by  such  a  system  of  service. 

The  soil  of  the  Southern  states,  which  by  nature 
was  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  cotton  was 
gradually  becoming  poorer.  The  fact  that  the 
average  yield  per  acre  was  declining  had  been 
borne  in  on  the  planters  in  a  way  that  troubled 
them  deeply.  It  was  a  time  when  chemistry  had 
hardly  yet  become  a  science ;  when  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  functions  of  nitrogen  as  a  plant  food 
was    very    imperfect  5     and    when    so    little    was 


THE  WAR  ON  NULLIFICATION        113 

known  of  the  manifestations  of  nature  in  repro- 
ducing her  kind  that  men  could  not  take  hold  of 
those  simple  principles  which  have  since  resulted 
in  more  or  less  of  a  revolution  in  agriculture.  It 
was  undeniable,  however,  that  the  crop  was  declin- 
ing, or  at  least  the  net  receipts  of  the  plantations 
were  growing  less,  and  a  scapegoat  must  be  found 
to  explain  the  result.  Clay's  tariff  served  this 
purpose. 

The  statement  made  by  the  Whigs  that  the  coun- 
try had  never  been  in  a  more  prosperous  condition 
than  in  1832  was  correct.  Cotton  went  out  by  the 
shipload,  and  the  South  had  the  advantage  of  pro- 
ducing a  crop  that  could  be  turned  immediately 
into  money.  In  every  centre  there  were  ''  factors  " 
who  had,  in  this  country  and  abroad,  principals 
ready  to  advance  money  on  crops  at  usurious  rates, 
but  the  planter  seldom  considered  this  fact.  He 
knew  that  he  had  one  of  the  great  staples  of  the 
world  and  that  it  was  sure  to  bring  him  large  re- 
turns. 

The  Southerner  was  never  of  that  practical  turn 
of  mind  characteristic  of  the  New  Englander  who 
had  to  watch  and  pinch  and  squeeze  to  make  a 
living,  and  all  the  time  felt  the  necessity  of  accu- 
mulating a  surplus.     He  lived  in  princely  style, 


114  THOMAS  H.   BEXTON 

entertained  regally,  and  was  more  apt  to  find  in 
political  conditions  than  elsewhere  the  reason  for 
any  decline  in  his  income. 

Could  Yankee  ingenuity,  thrift,  intelligence  and 
wisdom  have  been  transplanted  to  the  Southern 
cotton-fields,  there  would  have  been  w  ealth  beyond 
compare  in  a  section  where  the  people  lived  in  a 
style  which  in  the  large  was  destructive  of  the  best 
interests  of  economy. 

We  need  only  to  read  contemporaneous  accounts 
of  life  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  to  see  how 
artificial  was  the  civilization  which  prevailed 
there.'  On  every  estate  there  was  an  imposing 
mansion,  and  visitors  from  the  Xorth  or  from  Eu- 
rope marveled  at  the  fact  that  what  were  elsewhere 
considered  the  necessities  of  life  were  ignored  in 
that  section.  The  men  lived  according  to  their 
standards  in  a  comfortable  style,  kept  a  good  table, 
a  fine  stable,  bet  heavily  on  horses  and  cards,  gave 
notes  without  hesitation  and  paid  them  with  much 
grumbling.  The  Southern  man  was  always  opti- 
mistic until  he  was  personally  pinched.  He  spent 
with  freedom  the  money  he  borrowed,  and  found 

^  Fanny  Kemble,  "Two  Years  on  a  Georgia  Plantation"  ; 
Harriet  Martineau,  "Travels"  ;  De  Tocqueville,  "Democracy 
in  America, ' '  etc. 


THE  WAR  ON  NULLIFICATION        115 

that  the  time  of  reckoning  came  much  sooner  than 
he  expected.  This  is  a  mild  statement  of  the  case 
based  on  contemporaneous  records  which  were 
kept  by  the  Southern  people  themselves.  They  en- 
joyed the  world  and  thought  that  the  earth  and  the 
fulness  thereof  was  for  them  ;  the  worst  of  it  was 
that  they  had  so  hearty  a  contempt  for  people  with 
different  ideals,  and  for  those  who  were  forced  by 
circumstances  to  follow  a  very  different  scheme  of 
life. 

The  Southern  congressman  as  a  rule  was  a  lawyer 
or  a  planter.  His  mind  was  stored  with  a  priori 
views  of  the  Constitution,  while  he  was  devoted  ab- 
solutely to  his  ideas  as  to  the  practical  conduct  of 
public  affairs.  That  cotton  occupied  the  largest 
place  in  his  esteem  is  not  surprising,  because  it  was 
the  chief  industry  of  the  section  to  which  he  be- 
longed. The  Northern  man  may  have  been  a  protec- 
tionist or  the  reverse,  may  have  been  a  slavery  or 
an  anti-slavery  man,  but  he  had  that  immense  ad- 
vantage which  comes  from  actual  contact  with  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  people.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  the  good-natured  Southerner  who  lived  on  a 
great  plantation  worked  by  slaves  whom  he  ac- 
corded tolerable  comforts,  came  to  look  upon  the 
slavery  system  as  economical   and  benevolent,— 


116  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

even  holding  it  to  be  sanctioned  by  God  and  the 
Constitution.  He  looked  upon  life  according  to 
his  environment  as  nearly  all  nien  do  and  he  was 
quick  to  perceive  anything  that  touched  upon  his 
own  peculiar  relation.  It  is  only  strange  when  he 
complained  because  the  New  England  or  the  Pennsyl- 
vania manufacturers  asked  for  some  privilege,  such 
as  the  new  tariff  law,  that  he  could  not  see  he 
already  had  an  offset  guaranteed  him  in  the  Con- 
stitution. Now  the  Constitution  had  recognized 
slavery  as  a  fact  and  had  given  the  slaveholder  an 
immense  political  predominance  by  specifying  that 
three-fifths  of  his  slaves  should  be  counted  in 
making  up  representation  in  Congress  and  in  the 
electoral  college.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  owner  of 
500  slaves  in  South  Carolina  cast  votes  representing 
301  persons,  while  the  employer  of  500  men  in  the 
North  cast  only  his  own  vote,  so  that  the  Southerner 
enjoyed  a  tremendous  advantage.  But  his  dispo- 
sition was  such  that  he  considered  this  a  right  and 
not  a  privilege. 

We  can  see  clearly  in  these  days  that,  even  apart 
from  the  institution  of  slavery,  there  was  a  great 
fault  in  the  whole  Southern  system.  There  was 
lack  of  thrift,  of  economic  perception,  and  a  tend- 
ency to   spend  freely  in  advance  rather  than   to 


THE  WAR  OX  NULLIFICATION        117 

accumulate  and  invest.  The  actual  result  was  that 
those  esteemed  rich  were  often  poor,  and  nearly  all 
of  the  cotton  planting  leaders  felt  that  they  had  a 
grievance. 

In  no  state  were  the  South' s  animosities  on  the 
tariff  question  aroused  so  deeply  as  in  South 
Carolina.  Calhoun,  supported  by  Hayne,  took  up 
the  cause  of  his  state,  and  the  South  generally,  with 
eagerness. 

Much  of  Calhoun's  opposition  to  the  new  tariff  is 
often  ascribed  to  his  political  reverses.  The  fact 
is  that  he  was  a  bitterly  disappointed  man.  When 
Congress  met  in  December,  1832,  the  gloom  of 
despair  had  settled  over  him  and  his  school  of  cot- 
ton statesmen,  in  common  with  most  of  Jackson's 
enemies.  Their  defeat  at  the  presidential  election 
in  November  had  been  crushing.  There  were  many 
explanations  but  none  of  them  was  satisfactory  to 
the  disappointed  leaders.  The  truth  is  they  had  been 
outgeneraled  by  Jackson  and  Benton  and  they  had 
appealed  to  the  country  on  a  platform  that  had  been 
rejected.  The  South  Carolina  leader  was  not  only 
eliminated  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  but 
was  fast  becoming  politically  marooned,  and  that  he 
could  never  stand.  He  therefore  resigned  the  vice- 
presidency,  and  was  sent  to  occupy  a  seat  in  the 


118  THOMAS  H.   BEXTON 

Senate  where  he  could  take  a  more  active  part  in 
affairs. 

Hayne,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  had  done 
his  best  to  show  how  the  cotton  planters  would  not 
quietly  accede  to  a  protective  tariff,  but  in  vain. 
The  time  for  action  seemed  to  have  come,  and  Cal- 
houn was  prepared  to  test  his  academic  theory  of 
nullification  to  the  last  extremity. 

A  convention  of  the  state  of  South  Carolina  was 
called  (following  the  process  by  which  states  are 
admitted  to  the  Union),  and  it  was  solemnly  resolved 
not  only  that  the  Tariff  of  1832  was  null  and  void,  but 
also  that  the  law  of  1828,  which  had  been  submitted 
to  for  four  years,  was  equally  null.  The  governor 
was  called  upon,  and  the  legislature  authorized 
him  to  take  such  forcible  measures  as  would  carry 
out  these  resolutions  and  refuse  payment  of  taxes  to 
the  Federal  government  after  February  1st. 

This  was  nullification.  Theoretically  it  meant 
no  forcible  resistance,  but  considering  the  author- 
ization, it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  force 
would  be  used  if  necessary.  There  was  something 
sublime  in  the  audacity  of  this  step  on  the  part  of 
one  of  the  sisterhood  of  states.  To  be  sure  it  had  no 
effect  that  can  be  likened  to  that  which  such  action 
would  produce  to-day  after  a  civil  war  has  deter- 


THE  WAE  OX  NULLIFICATION        119 

mined  the  relations  of  nation  and  states,  but  even 
then  it  was  viewed  with  alarm  by  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Union.  It  is  true  that  almost  every 
state  had  many  times,  through  its  leaders,  threat- 
ened disunion,  unless  its  own  view  as  to  the  policy 
to  be  pursued  in  some  particular  crisis  were  ac- 
cepted; so  it  is  hard  to  say  that  up  to  this  date  any 
one  section  had  been  more  to  blame  in  this  matter 
than  another. 

It  was  the  first  time,  however,  that  resistance 
was  openly  asserted,  and  that  it  must  be  forcible,  if 
not  ridiculous,  was  apparent  on  all  sides.  There 
was  a  spirit  of  bravado  and  something  of  insolence 
and  ignorance  in  throwing  down  the  gage  which 
had  immediate  application  in  the  prospective 
refusal  of  the  South  Carolinians  to  pay  the  duties 
levied  under  the  existing  tariff  law.  If  this  were  a 
threat,  it  was  promptly  met ;  if  it  were  a  menace,  it 
proved  harmless. 

Jackson  was  as  fearless  a  man  as  ever  lived,  and 
when  his  cause  was  just  he  was  thrice  armed.  He 
prepared  for  the  emergency  as  became  a  soldier  and 
an  executive,  thus  showing  more  discretion  than 
might  have  been  expected  of  a  son  of  thunder.  He 
collected  a  sufficient  number  of  regiments  at  easy 
striking  distance,  sent  a  war  vessel  to  Charleston,  and 


120  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOK 

thither  despatched  General  Scott,  the  hero  of  Lundy's 
Lane,  a  Virginian  and  a  patriot.  Then  he  issued  a 
proclamation  which  told  the  people  of  the  recreant 
state  exactly  what  they  might  expect. 

It  appears  from  contemporary  history  that  Jack- 
son wrote  the  original  of  this  document  with  a 
great  steel  pen,  and  that  his  Secretary  of  State, 
Livingston,  modified  it  sufficiently  to  meet  the 
diplomatic  needs  of  the  occasion.  Even  as  toned 
down  it  was  a  vigorous  paper.  To  Congress  Jack- 
son reported  the  matter  in  a  dignified  way,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  prepare  for  eventualities.  Just  what 
would  have  taken  place  had  South  Carolina  stood 
her  ground  can  never  be  known.  It  was  at  this 
juncture  that  Jackson  is  reported  to  have  sent  word 
to  Calhoun  that  if  he  tried  to  execute  any  such 
scheme  as  he  proposed  he  would  hang  him  higher 
than  Haman,  and  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that 
he  would  have  gone  to  such  a  length  if  occasion  had 
seemed  to  require  it.  He  had  hanged  British  sub- 
jects on  much  slighter  provocation.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  South  Carolina  had  indulged  in  a  '^  bluff" 
and  her  leaders  decided  that  they  would  take  no 
steps  in  the  matter  until  the  first  of  February,  thus 
offering  opportunity  for  a  compromise.* 
^  Sumner,  "  Life  of  Jackson." 


THE  WAE  OX  NULLIFICATION        121 

It  is  a  common  impression  that  on  this  occasion 
there  was  no  sort  of  compromise  and  that  South 
Carolina  surrendered  under  duress  in  the  most  hu- 
miliating manner.  Well  would  it  be  if  such  a  fact 
could  be  recorded.  The  situation  was  a  vexatious 
one.  Jackson,  though  he  was  prepared  for  it,  did  not 
wish  a  conflict  any  more  than  the  mildest  man  in 
the  country.  In  his  annual  message  to  Congress  he 
took  no  backward  step  in  his  determination  to  sup- 
port the  laws,  but  referred  to  the  tariff  as  a  matter 
which  had  occasioned  the  controversy.  There  is  no 
doubt  he  felt  that  in  some  respects  the  measure  he 
had  so  recently  signed  contained  matters  concern- 
ing which  there  was  just  ground  of  complaint. 

When  Clay  arrived  upon  the  scene  he  was  not 
the  jaunty,  defiant  leader  of  six  months  before. 
He  had  lost  his  battle  for  the  presidency.  Though 
he  never  swerved  in  his  love  for  the  Union  he  did 
not  wish  the  nation  to  try  the  experiment  of  civil 
war  unless  it  was  necessary  and  was  ready  to  hedge 
on  the  tariff  question. 

Intense  was  the  indignation  of  the  manufacturers 
all  over  the  country  when  they  learned  that  Clay 
seemed  disposed  to  falter  on  this  subject.  The 
recent  law  was  in  general  beneficial  to  them,  and 
already  many  had  prepared  to  take  advantage  of  its 


122  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOK 

provisions  by  enlarging  their  manufactories.  That 
their  late  champion  should  now  show  signs  of  weak- 
ness was  to  them  maddening  and  to  many  beyond 
belief.  It  was  an  inherent  weakness  of  Clay  that  in 
times  of  stress  he  lacked  that  clear  vision  which 
was  essential  to  his  o^ti  good.  It  is  true  he  might 
have  thought  that  the  country  had  declared  against 
him  and  that  he  owed  little  to  those  who  had  re- 
fused to  support  him,  or  even  to  the  manufacturers 
themselves  who  had  supported  him  in  vain.  This 
however  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  very  control- 
ling motive  in  his  action.  What  he  desired  was 
peace  and  he  was  willing  to  have  it  come  on  almost 
any  terms,  certainly  on  terms  which  did  him  no  credit 
as  a  political  economist  or  as  a  constitutional  lawyer. 
One  of  two  courses  was  open  :  to  do  nothing  and  let 
the  President  deal  with  the  matter  in  his  own  way, 
or  else  effect  some  sort  of  a  legislative  compromise 
which  would  preserve  the  national  honor  and  at  the 
same  time  remove  the  cause  of  the  aggravation.  The 
latter  alternative  was  adopted  after  many  confer- 
ences in  which  Benton  had  an  active  part.  He  did 
not  appear  as  a  leader  in  any  of  the  legislation 
which  followed,  that  place  belonging  naturally  to  the 
tariff  men  who  directly  or  indirectly  had  been  re- 
sponsible for  the  outbreak.     Any  compromise  satis- 


THE  WAE  ON  NULLIFICATION        123 

factory  to  them  was  likely  to  meet  with  no  opposi- 
tion anywhere. 

Clay  drafted  the  bill.  His  proposal  was  gradu- 
ally to  reduce  the  duties  for  eight  years,  then  cut 
them  down  sharply  in  two  years  until  they  reached 
a  maximum  of  twenty  per  cent. ,  a  rate  which  was  to 
be  maintained  thereafter.  Perpetually  from  that 
time  forward  the  tariff  was  to  be  for  revenue  only. 
To  the  manufacturers  this  proposal  was  about  as 
comforting  and  sensible  as  cutting  off  the  tail  of  a 
dog  an  inch  at  a  time  to  save  him  pain. 

The  passage  of  the  measure  was  effected  in  an  un- 
usual way.  As  a  revenue  bill  it  must  originate  in 
the  House,  where  it  had  long  been  debated  with 
little  progress.  Clay  presented  a  copy  of  it  to 
Calhoun  who  now  found  himself  in  a  very  pre- 
carious and  unhappy  situation.  He  had  threat- 
ened that  his  state  would  nullify  the  acts  of  the 
Federal  government  unless  it  changed  its  policy. 
Jackson  had  sternly  rejected  all  suggestions  of  com- 
promise on  the  subject  of  nullification,  announcing 
that  the  laws  were  to  be  maintained  at  whatever 
cost  and  the  talk  of  arresting  Calhoun  for  high 
treason,  and  the  threat  of  hanging  him  became 
louder  and  louder.  There  was  no  doubt  that  Cal- 
houn would  have  been  arrested  at  the  first  overt  act, 


124  tho:mas  h.  be:n"TO]S' 

and  lie  had  no  desire  to  become  a  political  martyr ; 
while  if  he  did  not  proceed  in  the  course  he  had 
laid  down  for  himself  and  his  state,  he  must  make 
a  humiliating  surrender.  Clay  at  this  time  was  not 
on  speaking  terms  with  Calhoun  and  after  an  inter- 
view which  was  rather  painful,  a  plan  was  agreed 
upon  whereby  it  was  to  pass.  After  being  worked 
over  in  secret  in  this  way,  the  compromise  bill  was 
suddenly  sent  to  the  House.  By  a  parliamentary 
device  it  was  substituted  for  the  bill  under  discus- 
sion and  was  at  once  passed  without  debate.  This 
was  an  extraordinary  proceeding  and  met  with  the 
disapproval  of  many  of  the  friends  of  the  measure  who 
felt  that  so  imi)ortant  a  bill  ought  not  to  be  dealt  with 
in  any  such  subterranean  manner.  John  Quincy 
Adams  voted  against  it  because  he  was  a  pro- 
tectionist and  because  he  felt  that  no  sop  ought  to 
be  thrown  to  South  Carolina,  so  long  as  she  main- 
tained her  rebellious  attitude.  In  this  position  he 
had  many  supporters,  but  the  end  of  the  session 
was  near  and  the  majority  were  anxious  for  any 
way  of  escape  from  a  danger  that  was  so  men- 
acing. 

In  the  Senate  the  measure  had  already  been  dis- 
cussed in  the  form  of  a  resolution  which  Clay  had 
offered,  and  now  that  the  bill  itself  had  arrived  the 


THE  WAR  ON  NULLIFICATION        125 

debate  raged  warmly.  Webster  was  particularly- 
displeased,  and  because  it  was  foreseen  that  such 
would  be  his  attitude,  Clay  and  Calhoun  had  not 
taken  him  into  their  counsels.  Calhoun,  having 
begun  his  career  as  a  protectionist,  was  no^  work- 
ing for  a  reduction  of  duties,  declaring  that  the 
policy  was  unconstitutional.  The  Tariff  of  1816 
for  which  he  had  voted  was  avowedly  protection- 
ist in  principle,  and  in  endeavoring  to  revert  to 
that  measure  as  a  purely  revenue  bill  he  was  in- 
consistent. If  a  forty  per  cent,  tariff  is  an  out- 
rage calling  for  revolution,  and  a  twenty  per  cent, 
tariff  is  perfectly  legitimate,  there  must  be  a 
dividing  line  between  the  two  somewhere,  and  it 
would  be  interesting  to  know  where  Calhoun  drew 
it  and  on  what  theory  he  did  so.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  his  claim  that  protection  was  unconstitutional 
was  under  the  circumstances  absurd.  The  cause  of 
distress  was  deeper  than  the  tariff  and,  as  was 
pointed  out  in  the  debate,  would  endure  long  after 
that  question  was  disposed  of. 

Benton's  position  in  this  matter  was  logical  and 
ought  never  to  be  lost  sight  of.  He  believed  that 
the  Union  was  a  permanent  institution ;  that  the 
nation  had  the  power  within  itself  to  protect  itself, 
and  must  do  so  at  any  cost.     He  had  no  particular 


126  THOMAS  H.  BEXTO:S" 

love  for  a  high  tariff  at  this  time,  and  it  is  evident 
from  what  he  said  and  wrote  that  he  had  begun  to 
lose  faith  in  the  doctrine  of  protection.  Without 
absolutely  repudiating  his  views  he  had  modified 
them  somewhat  as  the  following  extract  from  one  of 
his  speeches  indicates : 

**  The  fine  effects  of  the  high  tariff  upon  the  pros- 
perity of  the  West  have  been  celebrated  on  this 
floor  :  with  how  much  reason,  let  facts  respond,  and 
the  people  j  udge  !  I  do  not  think  we  are  indebted 
to  the  high  tariff  for  our  fertile  lands  and  our  navi- 
gable rivers  ;  and  I  am  certain  we  are  indebted  to 
these  blessings  for  the  prosperity  we  enjoy.'' 

While  Benton  was  therefore  personally  glad 
enough  to  have  the  duties  reduced,  he  would  not 
countenance  a  measure  which  was  nothing  more 
or  less  than  a  surrender  of  sovereignty  to  the 
threats  of  a  single  state  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
to  a  few  persons  in  that  state.  He  denied  that 
there  was  any  reason  for  South  Carolina's  com- 
plaint. It  seemed  monstrous  that  her  leaders  should 
consider  that  the  South  had  been  ill-treated  by  the 
Korth  when,  with  two  exceptions,  every  president 
had  been  chosen  from  the  South,  and  the  two  ex- 
ceptions were  New  England  men,  who  alone  had 
been  refused  re-election.     The  Missouri   Compro- 


THE  WAE  ON  NULLIFICATION        127 

mise,  which  Calhoun  was  now  beginning  to  attack 
and  repent  of,  was  really  a  Southern  measure,  and 
had  been  endorsed  by  him  and  his  political  friends. 
The  failure  to  secure  Texas  from  Spain  when  it 
was  possible  to  do  so,  was  the  fault  of  no  man  more 
than  Calhoun,  who  was  in  the  cabinet  at  the  time, 
and  had  agreed  with  Monroe  that  it  would  be  better 
to  avoid  the  appearance  of  a  desire  to  extend  the 
domain  of  slavery. 

Benton  was  a  practical  man  and  had  little  sym- 
pathy with  Calhoun  or  his  theories.  If  there  was 
any  real  or  just  cause  of  complaint  he  was  in  favor 
of  having  it  threshed  out  and  decided  man  to  man 
by  a  majority  ;  while  Calhoun  openly  said  that  a 
majority  was  despotic,  and  that  it  often  became 
necessary  for  a  minority  to  nullify  its  actions. 
^yhat  sort  of  a  government  could  be  maintained  on 
such  a  basis  perhaps  Calhoun  imagined  better  than 
we  can,  although  we  shall  see  that  nearly  twenty 
years  later  he  actually  suggested  some  such  system 
for  the  United  States. 

Benton  continued  to  assert  that  there  was  nothing 
to  compromise,  that  the  proposed  measure  was  a 
surrender  and  not  a  compromise,  and  that  the 
nation  would  suffer  in  dignity  by  its  course.  In 
this   position    he    had    the    support  of  Webster. 


128  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOK 

Whatever  Webster's  faults  he  was  always  a  na- 
tional man,  and  apart  from  his  desire  to  have  the 
protective  principle  retained  he  could  not  supjiort 
a  bill  which  was  in  effect  a  quasi-endorsement  of 
the  doctrine  of  nullification.  He  was  in  truth  a 
supporter  of  Jackson  on  the  general  subject  of  pre- 
serving the  union,  and  very  glad  was  the  old  war 
horse  to  have  such  a  champion. 

The  President's  position  in  this  time  of  legisla- 
tive stress  seems  to  have  been  quiescent.  He 
waited  for  the  compromise  to  pass  but  exhibited 
little  visible  interest  in  the  debates. 

The  rearrangement  of  votes  in  the  course  of 
a  year  illustrates  the  changing  character  of  our 
politics  and  shows  on  how  slight  a  basis  the  alleged 
principles  of  the  times  were  established.  If  the 
Tariff  of  1832  were  essential  and  desirable  in 
every  way  in  June,  it  is  hard  to  see  why  it  should 
be  destroj^ed  both  as  to  details  and  to  principle 
in  the  following  February.  Moreover  the  curious 
situation  resulted  that  many  of  those  who  voted  for 
the  new  bill  (including  Clay  who  was  its  foremost 
champion),  insisted  that  it  was  still  strongly  pro- 
tectionist while  others  supported  it  because  it  looked 
toward  free  trade.  In  fact  the  vote  in  both  houses 
on  this  measure  was  made  up  very  differently  from 


THE  WAR  ON  NULLIFICATION        129 

that  of  the  previous  summer  and  caused  Benton 
and  others  to  wonder  where  was  the  profound 
principle  in  tariff-making  which  had  been  so  sol- 
emnly endorsed  and  was  now  so  suddenly  aban- 
doned. 

When  the  manufacturers  found  that  there  was  no 
recourse  but  to  accept  the  bill,  they  did  so  with  the 
best  possible  grace,  but  succeeded  in  securing  many 
administrative  amendments  which  helped  them 
materially.  They  were  determined,  however,  that 
there  should  at  least  be  an  endorsement  of  the 
doctrine  of  protection.  There  were  those  who 
would  have  preferred  a  fight  to  the  end  then  and 
there,  to  determine  whether  a  protective  tariff  was 
constitutional  or  not ;  but  as  this  was  not  to  be  the 
policy,  they  insisted  that  Calhoun  and  the  rest  of 
the  nullifiers  should  not  only  vote  for  the  bill  as  a 
whole,  but  for  those  administrative  details  which 
were  particularly  nauseous  to  them.  Indeed,  partly 
as  a  protective  measure  and  partly  for  the  purpose 
of  compelling  the  nullifiers  to  declare  their  prin- 
ciples, the  duty  on  one  kind  of  woolen  cloth  was 
raised  very  considerably  to  sixty  per  cent. ,  and  this 
change  they  must  endorse.  There  was  much  method 
in  this  course,  for  if  the  nullifiers  voted  for  the  bill 
they  could  never  say  that  it  was  unconstitutional 


130  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

without  accusing  themselves  of  sacrificing  principle 
to  policy,  which  was  exactly  what  they  were  trying 
to  make  the  people  believe  they  would  never  do. 
Benton  has  left  a  careful  record  of  the  transaction. 
Clayton,  of  Delaware,  took  in  hand  this  part  of 
the  program — the  humiliation  of  Calhoun — since 
Clay  was  felt  to  be  in  a  delicate  position  on  the 
subject.  The  session  had  only  two  more  days  of 
life  when  the  ultimatum  was  delivered  to  the  nul- 
lifiers^  and  it  brought  them  to  the  verge  of  despair. 
It  was  treatment  which  they  had  not  expected.  It 
would  take  from  them  the  claim  to  victory  which 
they  had  hoped  to  set  up,  and  few  were  disposed  to 
vote  for  the  bill,  though  wishing  it  to  pass.  Cal- 
houn tried  in  vain  to  have  himself  excepted  from 
such  gaUing  terms,  but  Clayton  was  inexorable. 
He  spent  one  entire  night  in  debating  whether 
he  should  accede  to  the  demand,  finally  concluding 
to  do  so  for  the  very  good  reason  that  if  he  did  not 
he  must  be  responsible  for  civil  war,  and  at  that 
time  there  were  few  states  disposed  to  follow  the 
leadership  of  South  Carolina.  He  could  not  igno- 
miniously  surrender,  so  he  agreed  to  vote  but 
sought  to  salve  his  conscience  and  explain  his 
position  to  the  public,  especially  to  his  constituents, 
by  putting  on  record  the  reasons  for  his  action. 


THE  WAE  ON  NULLIFICATIO:^r        131 

This  movement  was  speedily  checked  ;  at  the  last 
he  gave  his  unqualified  assent  to  the  bill  and  the 
crisis  was  passed. 

It  is  well  to  consider  for  a  moment  what  would 
have  happened  had  Benton  been  given  his  way  at 
this  point  in  the  nation^s  history,  and  the  whole 
difference  could  have  been  brought  to  its  final  issue. 
Benton  was  now  aware  that  there  was  a  spirit  of  dis- 
union in  the  South.     He  saw  clearly  that  slavery 
was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  it  made  him  hate  that 
institution  more  than  ever,  though  he  remained  a 
slaveholder  all  his  days.     His  position  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  was  that  there  was  actually  no  danger 
to  the  slave  interest  from  the  I^-orth,  that  all  the  talk 
about  the  need  for  compromises  was  ridiculous  ,•  and 
he  repeatedly  challenged  the  radicals  of  the  South 
to  show  where  there  had  been  a  single  invasion  of 
their  rights.     To  such  demands  he  could  get  no 
categorical  answer.     Every  time  Calhoun  and  others 
discussed  the  subject  it  seemed  necessary  for  them 
to    go   back    to    the    beginnings    of   history    and 
trace  the  whole  principle   of  government  to  the 
present  time,  when  the  main  point  was  usually  be- 
fogged or  absolutely  lost  in  the  mazes  of  intricate 
argument  which  these  orators  loved  to  employ  on 
all  occasions.     By  the  time  they  reached  the  Eeso- 


132  TPIOMAS  H.  BEXTOK 

lutions  of  1798  most  of  their  hearers  were  tired 
and  few  even  read  their  speeches  when  printed. 
It  was  becoming  a  fixed  principle  of  belief  in  the 
minds  of  a  growing  number  of  senators,  that  unless 
the  Union  were  extended  so  that  there  should 
always  be  exactly  as  many  slave  states  as  free  states 
the  country  must  certainly  go  on  the  rocks. 

In  vain  did  Benton  say  that  if  it  did  go  on  the 
rocks  it  was  because  the  Southerners  would  delib- 
erately send  it  there.  They  would  have  nothing 
but  their  bond  and  that  was  the  predominance  of 
the  slave  interest  in  the  politics  of  the  nation. 
Well  might  it  have  been  had  Jackson  and  Benton 
fought  the  question  to  a  conclusion  then  and  there. 
If  it  had  come  to  war  '^  Old  Hickory  "  would  have 
been  at  the  front ;  would  have  overrun  South 
Carolina  before  the  statesmen  of  that  section  could 
have  completed  one  of  their  fine  spun  arguments. 
Then  the  subject  might  have  been  settled  for  all 
time.  Almost  twenty  years  later  another  Southern 
Union-loving  and  warrior  president,  Zachary 
Taylor,  was  in  the  "WHiite  House,  and  he  too  wished 
to  try  conclusions  with  the  South,  but  once  more 
Clay  and  Calhoun  had  their  way  and  left  a  heritage 
of  civil  war  to  posterity. 

With  the  Compromise  went  a  land  distribution 


THE  WAR  ON  NULLIFICATION        133 

bill  which  was  to  compensate  the  manufactur- 
ing communities  in  some  measure  for  the  loss  of  pro- 
tection. It  was  greedily  accepted  by  nearly  all  the 
states.  This  measure  was  a  part  of  the  bargain  for 
reducing  the  tariff  but  with  his  characteristic  in- 
dependence Jackson  disposed  of  the  bill  by  a 
pocket  veto. 

At  the  same  time  this  measure  was  grinding 
through  Congress,  a  ''Force  Bill"  was  being  pre- 
pared for  the  assistance  of  the  President  in  collect- 
ing the  revenue  and  in  better  maintaining  national 
authority,  so  that  his  hands  would  be  strengthened 
for  future  wants,  even  if  the  new  power  should  not 
be  necessary  for  immediate  use. 

In  the  debates  on  the  "Force  Bill,"  Benton 
boldly  declared  that  the  Union  was  and  must 
be  perpetual.  At  another  time  he  said:  "It 
was  to  get  rid  of  the  evils  of  the  old  confederacy 
that  the  present  Union  was  formed  ;  and  having 
formed  it,  they  who  formed  it  undoubtedly  under- 
took to  make  it  i)erpetual,  and  for  that  purpose  had 
recourse  to  all  the  sanctions  held  sacred  among  men 
— commands,  prohibitions,  oaths." 

From  this  position  he  never  deviated  though  in 
the  end  it  cost  him  his  seat  in  the  Senate  which  he 
so  long  had  graced. 


CHAPTER  YII 

THE  NATIONAL  BANK 

The  war  on  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  com- 
monly known  as  the  National  Bank,  was  a  rallying 
point  in  American  politics  for  fifteen  years.  It 
ended  not  only  in  the  death  and  bankruptcy  of 
that  institution,  but  in  the  failure  to  charter  a  sim- 
ilar establishment.  Originally  the  question  was 
one  of  general  policy,  but  it  soon  became  personal. 
Jackson  fought  the  bank  with  all  the  energy  and 
determination  with  which  he  had  swept  the  Indians 
from  the  face  of  Georgia.  It  was  Benton  who  took 
charge  of  the  contest  in  Congress,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  opposition  from 
the  most  prominent  men  inside  and  outside  of  the 
Senate  who  favored  the  institution. 

Just  what  Jackson  thought  of  the  bank  when  he 
reached  Washington  in  1829,  is  a  little  obscure,  but 
it  would  seem  that  he  had  no  decided  convictions  one 
way  or  the  other.  His  animosity  grew  as  he  dis- 
covered that  his  enemies  were  its  friends. '    The  bank 

'  Carl  Schurz,  "  Life  of  Henry  Clay." 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  135 

had  seven  years  yet  to  run,  and  there  was  no  necessity 
for  bringing  up  the  question  of  recharter.  Jack- 
son referred  to  it  in  his  first  annual  message  in  a 
rather  equivocal  way,  although  indicating  his  op- 
position on  the  ground  of  its  unconstitutionality, 
and  the  fact  that  it  had  failed  to  establish  a  uni- 
form and  sound  currency.  The  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  had  already  decided  that  a  fed- 
eral bank  was  constitutional,  but  Jackson  always 
claimed  that  he  had  sworn  to  obey  the  Constitution 
as  he  understood  it  and  not  as  others  interpreted  it 
for  him. 

The  bank  men  were  disturbed  over  Jackson's  po- 
sition, especially  as  he  intimated  that  if  a  bank 
were  necessary  at  all  it  ought  to  be  a  strictly  federal 
one  and  not  a  private  institution.  Benton  was  not 
consulted  by  Jackson  on  this  point,  but  he  was  dis- 
posed to  go  much  further  than  the  President.  He 
did  not  want  any  bank;  favored  gold  and  silver 
as  money,  and  paper  only  as  state  banks  could  fur- 
nish it  in  desired  quantities  and  when  based  on 
specie, — in  short  the  condition  that  exists  to-day. 
The  pro -bank  men  were  quite  willing  to  wait  until 
after  the  elections  of  1832,  hoping  first  that  Jackson 
would  not  be  a  candidate,  or,  if  he  were,  that  he 
would  be  defeated.     Benton  foresaw  that  if  there 


136  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

were  any  delay,  the  question  would  drop  out  of 
politics  for  the  time  being  and  that  before  the  pub- 
lic mind  had  been  educated  up  to  his  view,  the  re- 
charter  would  be  effected. 

In  February,  1831,  he  concluded  to  force  the 
contest.  He  introduced  a  resolution  to  the  effect 
that  it  was  not  expedient  to  recharter  the  bank, 
and  on  this  subject  delivered  a  set  speech  in  which 
his  whole  position  in  finance  was  set  forth.  He 
could  not  argue  against  the  bank  without  offering 
a  substitute,  and  he  boldly  proclaimed  that  gold 
was  needed  and  not  paper  ;  that  plenty  of  gold  was 
being  mined  in  the  world,  that  there  was  much  in 
this  country  and,  what  was  of  more  importance, 
that  our  constantly  increasing  balance  of  trade 
would  bring  us  all  the  precious  metals  we  needed 
for  currency.  This  speech  is  more  convincing  to-day 
than  when  it  was  delivered.  The  whole  proposition 
was  then  so  startling  to  most  persons  that  they  could 
not  accept  it.  They  laid  stress  on  the  fact  that  the 
country  had  been  in  great  trouble  after  the  first 
bank  was  not  rechartered  and  that  the  second  was  es- 
tablished as  a  necessity.  Benton's  argument  was 
largely  on  the  general  policy  and  was  not  much  de- 
voted to  actual  existing  conditions  or  the  conduct 
of  the  bank  itself,  though  he  did  declare  that  it 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  137 

had  failed  of  its  purposes.  His  general  position 
may  be  summed  up  in  tlie  following  extract  from 
his  speech : 

"I  am  willing  to  see  the  charter  expire,  without 
providing  any  substitute  for  the  present  bank.     I 
am  willing  to  see  the  currency  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment left  to  the  hard  money  mentioned  and  in- 
tended in  the  Constitution  ;  I  am  willing  to  have  a 
hard  money  government,  as  that  of  France  has  been 
since  the  time  of  assignats  and  mandats.     Every 
species  of  paper  might  be  left  to  the  State  authori- 
ties, unrecognized  by  the  federal  government,  and 
only  touched  by  it  for  its  own  convenience  when 
equivalent  to  gold  and  silver.     Such  a  currency 
filled  France  with  the  precious  metals,  when  Eng- 
land, with  her  overgrown  bank,  was  a  prey  to  all 
the  evils  of    unconvertible  paper.      It  furnished 
money  enough  for  the  imperial  government  when 
the  population  of  the  empire  was  three  times  more 
numerous,  and  the  expense  of  government  twelve 
times  greater,  than  the  population  and  expenses  of 
the  United  States,  and,  when  France  possessed  no 
mines  of  gold  or  silver,  and  was  destitute  of  the  ex- 
ports which  command  the  specie  of  other  countries. 
The  United  States  possess  gold  mines,  now  yielding 
half  a  million  per  annum,  with  every  prospect  of 


138  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

equaling  those  of  Peru.  But  this  is  not  the  best 
dependence.  We  have  what  is  superior  to  mines, 
namely,  the  exports  which  command  the  money  of 
the  world ;  that  is  to  say,  the  food  which  sustains 
life,  and  the  raw  materials  which  sustain  manufac- 
tures. Gold  and  silver  is  the  best  currency  for  a 
republic  ;  it  suits  the  men  of  middle  property  and 
the  working  people  best ;  and  if  I  was  going  to  es- 
tablish a  working  man's  party,  it  should  be  on  the 
basis  of  hard  money  : — a  hard  money  party,  against 
a  paper  party." 

Immediately  after  Benton  closed  this  speech 
Webster  called  for  a  vote  and  it  was  taken  with  the 
result  that  there  were  twenty  senators  against  the 
bank  and  only  twenty -three  in  its  favor.  Not  a 
speech  had  been  made  for  it  and  indeed  there  was  no 
man  in  the  Senate  who  was  able  to  make  an  adequate 
reply  to  Benton.  When  Webster  saw  the  coming 
storm,  he  wrote  to  Clay  saying  that  he  was  needed 
in  the  Senate,  and  urging  him  to  accept  election. 
He  arrived  that  fall  ready  to  take  up  the  cudgels 
against  Benton.  Clay  seems  never  to  have  had  a  just 
estimate  of  Benton's  powers  as  a  financier,  though 
he  crossed  swords  with  him  many  times  in  debate. 
Clay  had  a  wonderful  imagination  and  could  make 
figures  and  statistics  and  di-y-as-dust  details  most 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  139 

entertaining  to  his  audience.  Benton  had  no  such 
gifts,  but  he  could  prepare  a  logical  argument  and 
one  that  could  not  well  be  overthrown. 

He  took  up  the  task  manfully  and  it  may  be  said 
that  he  is  responsible  for  the  eventual  result.  Jack- 
son could  not  well  have  vetoed  the  measure  had  he 
not  felt  that  Benton  was  able  to  support  him, — that 
Benton  had  so  enlightened  the  people  on  finance 
they  would  not  be  alarmed  over  the  prospect  of  see- 
ing the  bank  disappear. 

Early  in  1832  the  bank  sent  a  memorial  to  Con- 
gress asking  for  recharter.  It  had  been  delayed  for 
some  time  because  there  were  a  few  Democrats, 
close  friends  of  Jackson,  who  did  not  like  to  quarrel 
with  him,  and  yet  favored  the  institution.  It  there- 
fore took  a  good  deal  of  caucusing  to  bring  them 
together.  The  memorial  was  received  by  both 
Houses  at  the  same  time,  and  the  preliminary  votes 
as  to  the  committees  to  which  it  should  be  referred 
showed  in  each  case  a  good  majority  for  recharter. 
Benton  was  able  to  hold  his  own  against  Clay  or 
any  one  else  in  the  Senate,  but  upon  him  was  im- 
posed the  added  duty  of  conducting  the  contest  in 
the  House.  He  chose  a  new  member,  Clayton  of 
Georgia,  to  whom  he  supplied  ammunition  and  in 
this  way  carried  on  a  double  war  when  it  would 


140  THOMAS  H.  BENTOl^ 

have  exhausted  an  ordinary  man  to  look  after  the 
matter  in  one  house/  Clayton  delivered  a  strong 
speech  from  data  furnished  him  by  Benton  in  which 
twenty-two  counts  were  made  against  the  bank, 
as  to  its  insufficiency  and  undesirability  in  general, 
as  well  as  to  its  specific  misdeeds.  In  fact  he 
asserted  that  it  had  violated  its  charter  in  many 
ways  and  was  abusing  its  privileges,  robbing  the 
people  and  defrauding  the  government,  while  he 
insinuated  also  that  it  was  not  in  a  sound  con- 
dition. Clayton  closed  by  asking  for  a  committee 
of  investigation  to  go  to  Philadelphia  and  ex- 
amine the  books.  This  brought  on  rather  pre- 
maturely a  discussion  of  the  whole  subject  in  which 
members  on  both  sides  were  wrought  up  to  great 
excitement.  As  the  bank  had  a  majority  in  the 
House  it  was  first  determined  to  vote  down  the 
proposition  to  investigate,  but  pretty  soon  it  was 
seen  that  this  would  be  bad  policy,  since  it  might 
indicate  that  there  was  something  to  hide.  The 
anti-bank  people  said  it  was  strange  that  an  insti- 
tution which  had  asked  Congress  for  an  extension 
of  privileges  was  unwilling  to  have  its  affairs  in- 
vestigated. McDuffie,  who  as  chairman  of  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee,  was  the  majority 
•Benton,  "Thirty  Years'  View." 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  141 

leader  on  the  floor,  saw  this  and  finally  a  committee 
was  agreed  upon.  Benton  however  was  cheated  of 
the  opportunity  he  desired.  The  Speaker,  instead 
of  following  the  usual  rule,  making  Clayton  as  mover 
of  the  resolution  the  chairman,  took  another  course. 
He  appointed  a  committee  of  seven  members  of 
whom  three  were  strong  bank  men,  and  three  strong 
anti-bank  men,  while  the  seventh  was  the  good-na- 
tured Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  reputed  slayer  of 
Tecumseh,  who  did  nothing  at  all  but  sign  the  ma- 
j  ority  report. 

There  were  three  reports.  The  majority  in  their 
report  spoke  strongly  against  the  bank  ;  indicted  it 
for  many  violations  of  its  charter ;  accused  it  of  being 
onerous  and  burdensome  to  the  people  instead  of  the 
blessing  it  professed  to  be ;  asserted  that  by  the 
establishment  of  many  branches,  drafts  were  used 
as  currency,  that  excessive  rates  were  charged  for 
money,  and  that  it  had  shown  great  favoritism  to 
Congressmen  and  ofdcials  favorable  to  recharter 
while  toward  others  it  had  been  usurious  and 
unaccommodating.  The  first  minority  report  was 
a  general  defense  of  the  bank,  while  John  Quincy 
Adams  submitted  a  report  of  his  own  which  was 
more  judicial  than  either  of  the  others.  In  this 
paper  he  pointed  out  certain  defects,  suggested  a 


142  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

number  of  remedies  and  favored  recharter  under 
proper  restrictions. 

Benton  maintained  the  war  with  great  obstinacy 
for  five  months.  Seeing  that  the  bill  would  pass 
he  used  every  possible  means  to  effect  delay  and 
attacked  every  paragraph,  offering  all  sorts  of 
amendments  which  were  voted  down.  The  subject 
was  discussed  daily,  and  Benton  enjoyed  attacking 
Webster  and  Clay  for  changing  their  positions  in 
the  matter.  When  Clay  was  in  the  Senate  in  1810 
he  had  voted  against  the  recharter  of  the  first  bank, 
commonly  called  Hamilton's,  and  had  made  the 
fii'st  important  speech  of  his  public  career  against 
it.  He  had  declared  such  an  establishment  uncon- 
stitutional and  it  made  him  writhe  as  Benton  re- 
peated his  arguments  and  approved  them.  In  those 
days  political  consistency  was  more  of  a  virtue 
than  at  present.  Clay  got  out  of  the  matter  as  best 
he  could  by  making  a  good  many  excuses,  finally 
admitting  that  he  had  been  wrong  in  the  first  in- 
stance. Benton  then  turned  on  \Yebster  and  quoted 
that  leader's  speeches  when  the  present  bank  was 
chartered.  Webster  had  opposed  the  measure  and 
made  several  very  exhaustive  speeches  in  which  he 
declared  the  bank  unnecessary  and  likely  to  result 
in  great  corruption  and  disturbance  of  business. 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  143 

The  Missourian  compelled  him  to  eat  his  words. 
Benton  himself  was  in  no  such  position.  He  had 
opposed  the  bank  from  the  very  first  moment  he 
entered  the  Senate ;  had  sought  in  vain  to  compel  it 
to  pay  interest  to  the  government  on  its  deposits  j 
and  had  tried  to  correct  its  policy  in  many  ways 
but  with  no  success. 

The  arrogance  of  the  bank's  advocates  was  ex- 
asperating to  Benton  and  his  followers.  The  men  of 
wealth,  influence  and  social  position  felt  that  they 
had  affairs  in  their  own  hands.  Moreover  Nicholas 
Biddle,  president  of  the  bank,  was  a  man  of  many 
abilities  and  possessed  the  fatal  gift  of  literary 
composition.  He  wrote  letters  when  he  should  not 
have  done  so  and  talked  too  frequently  for  one  who 
was  a  petitioner  for  favors.  He  and  his  friends 
acted  too  much  as  if  recharter  was  a  right  unde- 
niable ;  a  sort  of  ownership  of  the  country  was 
assumed  which  was  offensive  to  all  democrats,  while 
to  Jackson  it  was  maddening. 

On  the  final  vote  the  bank  mustered  twenty-eight 
votes  and  the  opposition  twenty.  In  both  ranks 
there  were  men  from  every  section  of  the  country,  so 
that  no  territorial  considerations  affected  the  meas- 
ure. In  the  House  there  was  a  majority  of  twenty- 
two  and  the  bill  went  to  the  President  at  almost  the 


144  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

same  time  as  the  new  tariff  bill.  Clay  expected 
that  Jackson  would  sign  both  bills,  or  that  if  either 
was  vetoed  it  would  be  the  tariff  since  the  President 
was  not  professedly  a  high  protectionist.  Jackson 
did  exactly  the  opposite.  He  signed  the  tariff  bill, 
thereby  securing  the  vote  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
vetoed  the  recharter  bill  in  a  message  which  was  a 
campaign  document  quite  as  much  as  a  state  paper. 
He  denounced  the  monopoly  and  all  its  misdeeds  in 
vigorous  language  and  asserted  not  only  that  the 
bank  was  unconstitutional,  but  that  it  had  also  be- 
come such  a  monster  of  iniquity  that  the  safety  of 
the  people  required  its  destruction.  WTiat  was 
gall  and  wormwood  to  Clay  was  the  fact  that  Jack- 
son followed  seriatim  Clay's  speech  against  re- 
charter  of  the  first  National  Bank,  using  his  argu- 
ments and  almost  his  language. 

This  opened  the  floodgates  of  oratory  once  more. 
Up  to  this  time  the  bank  men  had  largely  confined 
their  debates  to  matters  affecting  details  and  had 
left  to  Benton  most  of  the  general  argument.  The 
campaign  now  demanded  some  key-notes  and  they 
were  issued  by  Webster,  Clay  and  others.  Jackson 
was  denounced  as  a  foe  of  the  country,  a  wreaker 
of  destruction  on  the  business  interests  and  the 
laboring  men,  and  Webster  even  went  so  far  as  to 


THE  NATIO:^AL  BA:NK  145 

express  a  fear  that  the  country  was  finally  done  for. 
Benton  must  take  up  the  cudgels  for  Jackson  as 
usual,  though  he  had  some  support  from  others. 
He  replied  to  every  statement  of  the  opposition 
with  logic  and  with  confidence  in  the  future.  In 
the  course  of  this  debate  he  had  an  encounter  with 
Clay  that  nearly  led  to  serious  results.  Clay  was 
bitterly  disappointed  over  the  outcome,  as  it  was 
the  death  knell  to  his  hopes  of  the  presidency. 
Seizing  upon  Benton  as  the  author  of  his  misfor- 
tunes he  proceeded  to  berate  him  in  a  manner  more 
befitting  the  stump  than  the  dignified  forum  of  the 
Senate.  To  this,  however,  Benton  could  make  no 
objection  since  he  himself  had  been  a  conspicuous 
offender  in  this  respect  in  times  past.  Clay,  who 
could  not  accuse  Benton  of  inconsistency  in  legis- 
lation, made  much  of  the  fact  that  in  his  youth  he 
had  fought  Jackson  and  later  had  become  his  cham- 
pion. He  also  asserted  that  in  the  campaign  of 
1824  Benton  had  said  many  things  derogatory  to 
Jackson  to  the  effect  that  the  latter  was  little  better 
than  a  murderer,  a  cowardly  braggart,  and  that  dirks 
and  pistols  would  be  constantly  in  evidence  if  he 
were  elected.  This  was  at  a  time  when  Benton  was 
warmly  supporting  Clay's  candidacy  on  the  stump 
in  Missouri. 


146  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOK 

Such  action  was  short-sighted  in  Clay,  for  he 
ought  to  have  known  Benton  well  enough  by  this 
time  to  see  that  he  would  not  run  away  from  his 
own  career.  Benton  acknowledged  the  fact  that 
he  and  Jackson  had  quarreled  in  youth.  He 
said : 

''  It  is  true,  sir,  that  I  had  an  affray  with  General 
Jackson,  and  that  I  did  complain  of  his  conduct. 
We  fought,  sir,  and  I  hope  we  fought  like  men. 
When  the  explosion  was  over  there  remained  no  ill- 
will  on  either  side.  I  repeat,  sir,  there  is  no 
*  adjourned  question  of  veracity'  between  me  and 
General  Jackson  standing  over  for  settlement.  If 
there  had  been,  a  gulf  would  have  separated  us  as 
deep  as  hell." 

Benton  then  denied  he  had  ever  said  in  Missoui'i 
that,  if  Jackson  were  elected,  members  of  Congress 
would  need  to  guard  themselves  with  dirks  and 
pistols.  This  he  declared  was  a  calumny  that  had 
been  secretly  circulated,  and  he  attacked  Clay  bit- 
terly for  using  it,  intimating  that  as  he  had  fathered 
it  he  might  as  well  take  the  consequences. 

Things  were  now  becoming  warm.  Clay  also 
denied  that  there  was  any  adjourned  question  of 
veracity  between  him  and  Jackson  touching  any 
subject  whatever,  saying  that  the  President  had 


THE  XATIOI^AL  BANK  147 

attacked  liim  and  bad  not  made  good  his  case. 
Taking  up  the  dirk  question  once  more,  he  asserted 
that  Benton  had  used  the  expression,  and  turning 
on  him  asked  defiantly  : 

' '  Can  you  look  me  in  the  face,  sir,  and  say  that 
you  never  used  that  language  outside  of  Missouri  ?" 

^'I  look,  sir,  and  repeat  that  it  is  an  atrocious 
calumny  ;  and  I  will  pin  it  to  him  who  repeats  it 
here." 

Whereupon  Clay  in  excitement  cried  out : 

''Then  I  declare  before  the  Senate  that  you  said 
to  me  the  very  words."  Here  Benton  in  great 
excitement  shouted,  "False!  false!  false!"  members 
got  up  from  their  seats  and  the  fever  heat  was  rising. 
Continuing,  Clay  said  :  ' '  I  fling  back  the  charge 
of  atrocious  calumny  upon  the  senator  from  Mis- 
souri." ' 

The  situation  now  became  so  intense  that  a  per- 
sonal encounter  was  narrowly  averted.  Clay  was 
called  to  order,  but  demanded  to  be  heard  and  the 
debate  as  to  the  parliamentary  status  of  the  affair 
permitted  hot  blood  to  cool  a  little  on  both  sides, 
whereupon  each  apologized  to  the  Senate,  but  not 
to  the  other.  It  was  an  unfortunate  passage  at 
arms  and  it  bore  bitter  fruit  in  later  years.  All 
1  Benton,  "  Thirty  Years'  View." 


148  THOMAS  H.  BEXTO:^^ 

the  oratory  of  the  disappointed  bank  men  could 
not  revive  the  recharter  question,  and  the  ses- 
sion closed  with  Jackson's  star  in  the  ascendant 
in  spite  of  his  numerical  minority  in  Congress. 

In  the  presidential  campaign  which  followed 
much  was  made  of  Jackson's  veto  and  bitter  were 
the  anathematizations  showered  upon  him  by  the 
Clay  men. 

Jackson  made  up  his  mind  soon  after  his  re- 
election that  the  National  Bank  should  not  live  out 
its  allotted  term  of  years.  That  he  had  some  good 
reason  for  his  antipathy  is  undoubted,  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  situation  was  as  bad  as  he  and 
Benton  attempted  to  show.  It  was  sufficient,  how- 
ever, that,  after  the  war  began,  some  of  the  partisans 
of  the  bank  had  attacked  Jackson  personally,  im- 
pugned his  motives  and  furthermore  had  used  bank 
money  in  the  effort  to  defeat  him  for  re-election. 
Jackson  himself  could  scarcely  have  asked  his 
enemies  to  pursue  a  policy  better  suited  to  his 
purpose. 

In  his  original  memorandum  on  the  matter  of  re- 
charter  prepared  by  Benton  for  use  in  the  House  it 
was  intimated  that  the  financial  condition  of  the 
bank  was  not  sound.  Later  on  he  openly  charged 
that  it  was  insolvent.     The  facts  seem  to  be  that  the 


THE  XATI0:N^AL  bank  149 

bank  was  normally  able  to  meet  all  its  obligations, 
but  that  it  had  been  led  by  the  war  upon  it  into  a 
course  of  action  which  weakened  its  position.  It 
had  greatly  extended  its  loans  to  show  the  public 
how  essential  it  was  to  business  prosperity.  Had 
recharter  been  effected  it  is  likely  the  bank  would 
have  fully  recovered  from  the  losses  which  ensued 
from  too  confident  extensions  of  credit.  There  was 
a  great  lack  of  judgment  in  permitting  its  affairs  to 
develop  into  such  a  condition. 

The  officers  had  at  first  refused  to  locate  a  branch 
at  St.  Louis  because  it  might  help  Benton's  position. 
Then  when  they  thought  the  branch  might  injure 
him  it  was  established,  and  Benton  charged  that  it 
was  active  in  trying  to  break  his  influence  in  poli- 
tics, though  the  effort  was  fatal. 

The  law  creating  the  bank  had  permitted  the 
government  to  cease  depositing  public  moneys  in 
the  institution  when  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
should  so  order.  This  possibility  was  open,  but  no 
one  of  the  bank's  officers  seems  ever  to  have  thought 
that  such  a  thing  would  be  attempted.  As  a  rule, 
all  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury,  of  whatever  political 
affiliations,  had  been  favorable  to  the  bank  because 
it  was  so  admirable  an  engine  of  finance  for  the 
government,  and  there  was  no  available  substitute. 


150  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

The  bank  men  imagined  that  Jackson  would  never 
undertake  to  overrule  his  secretary  in  such  a  mat- 
ter and  felt  confident  in  any  event  that  it  would 
be  impossible,  because  the  government  was  a  heavy 
stockholder  and  could  scarcely  afford  to  ruin  its 
own  investment. 

All  this  argumentation  was  very  fine  and  very 
convincing  to  reasonable  and  experienced  men  in 
finance,  but  it  argued  little  knowledge  of  the  char- 
acter of  Jackson.  The  man  who  was  ready  and 
perhaps  anxious  to  hang  Calhoun  was  not  afraid  of 
Nicholas  Biddle. '  No  sooner  was  the  session  ended 
than  Jackson  prepared  to  strike  the  blow  which 
had  long  been  meditated.  The  bank  was  doomed, 
but  it  suited  his  purposes  to  wait  until  the  last  mo- 
ment before  giving  any  intimation  of  the  matter. 
As  Secretary  McLane  was  favorable  to  the  bank, 
opportunity  was  made  of  a  vacancy  to  promote  him 
to  the  secretaryship  of  state.  To  the  Treasury  was 
assigned  William  J.  Duane,  son  of  the  vitriolic 
editor  of  the  Aurora  which  had  been  the  favorite 
organ  of  Jefferson.  Duane  accepted  the  post  with 
some  reluctance  and  agreed  that  if  the  deposits 

*The  report  that  Jackson  threatened  to  hang  Calhoun,  in 
the  sense  that  personal  violence  was  intended,  is  apocryphal. 
Jackson's  idea  was  to  have  Calhoun  convicted  of  treason. 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  151 

were  to  be  removed,  lie  would  either  sign  the  order 
or  resign  to  permit  some  more  accommodating 
officer  to  perform  the  task.  In  fact,  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  believed  that  such  a  thing  would  be 
attempted.  It  was,  however,  already  determined 
on.  *  Jackson  always  prepared  his  policies  in  con- 
sultation with  the  members  of  his  ''Kitchen 
Cabinet ' '  before  conferring  with  his  official  advisers. 
He  consulted  with  Blair,  editor  of  the  Globe,  who 
was  favorable  to  the  move ;  Amos  P.  Kendall,  who 
was  at  first  doubtful ;  and  Major  Lewis,  one  of  his 
secretaries,  who  was  willing  to  do  anything  his  chief 
ordered.  Kendall  was  sent  on  a  secret  mission  to 
sound  the  state  banks  of  the  country  on  the  matter 
of  accepting  the  national  deposits.  Jackson  had 
supposed  they  would  jump  at  the  opportunity  but 
the  very  reverse  was  the  case.  Bankers  are  pro- 
verbially cautious  and  those  officers  who  were  ap- 
proached first,  being  those  of  the  soundest  institu- 
tions, were  chary  about  the  matter  since  heavy 
security  was  desired,  and  the  fact  that  the  National 
Bank  was  to  be  attacked  in  so  extraordinary  a 
manner,  was  not  a  good  augury  for  the  business 
future  of  the  country.  Kendall  did  succeed  in 
making  some  arrangements,  which  in  the  end  proved 
*  Schouler,  "  History  of  the  United  States." 


152  THOMAS  H.  BENT0:N^ 

most  unsatisfactory,  but  they  were  sufficient  for 
Jackson's  purposes.  Eeturning  suddenly  and  un- 
expectedly from  an  Eastern  tour  the  President 
found  to  his  dismay  that  although  Duane  had  twice 
been  sounded  by  a  member  of  his  '^Kitchen  Cabi- 
net" he  was  averse  to  removing  the  deposits. 
Jackson  who  ill-brooked  opposition  at  any  time 
was  furious  and  ordered  his  Secretary  to  sign  the 
order  or  resign,  as  he  had  promised.  Duane,  who 
was  enraged,  both  because  he  thought  the  policy  bad 
and  because  he  found  all  the  business  of  his  depart- 
ment was  being  conducted  in  a  closet  without  his 
knowledge,  declared  that  he  had  been  badly  treated, 
that  he  was  absolved  from  his  promise,  and  refused 
to  do  either.  That  settled  Duane' s  position  at  once. 
He  was  summarily  dismissed,  Attorney -General 
Taney  was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
order  was  promptly  signed.  Benton  was  in  Vir- 
ginia at  this  time,  ignorant  of  the  action  taken,  but 
he  endorsed  it  fully. 

'^I  felt  an  emotion  of  the  moral  sublime  at  be- 
holding such  an  instance  of  civic  heroism,"  said 
he.  ''Here  was  a  president,  not  bred  up  in  the 
political  profession,  taking  a  great  step  on  his  own 
responsibility  from  which  many  of  his  adversaries 
shrunk." 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  153 

That  the  order  made  a  sensation  can  well  be 
imagined  and  the  officers  of  the  bank  were  filled 
with  dismay.  Its  condition  was  now  really  worse 
than  they  dared  admit  and  they  were  struck  in  a 
vital  part.  Actually  there  was  no  removal  of  money 
in  the  vaults  but  the  receipts  as  they  came  in  were 
deposited  in  the  state  banks  and  all  orders  on  the 
treasury  were  cashed  at  the  National  Bank  so  that 
the  deposits  rapidly  disappeared.  Well  had  it  been 
at  this  time  if  Biddle  and  his  directors  had  shown  a 
spirit  of  humility.  On  the  contrary  they  were  an- 
gered by  the  action  of  the  President  and  entered 
upon  a  course  which  made  their  complete  ruin  all 
the  more  certain.  Biddle  drew  up  a  letter  in  which 
*^  Andrew  Jackson,"  as  he  was  styled  without  refer- 
ence to  his  title,  was  denounced  for  issuing  ' '  a  pre- 
tended order"  removing  the  deposits,  the  whole 
being  couched  in  a  witty  and  bitterly  sarcastic  vein 
calculated  to  impress  the  ignorant  reader  with  the 
fact  that  there  had  been  no  legal  action  in  the 
premises.  After  that  there  was  no  rest  for  the 
bank  so  long  as  Jackson  or  one  of  his  partisans  was 
in  power.  The  contest  for  recharter  was  renewed 
with  more  bitterness  than  ever,  but  with  no  suc- 
cess. Jackson  again  showed  his  consummate  leader- 
ship by  the  fact  that  not  even  a  majority  could 


154  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

be  mustered  in  Congress  for  the  bank,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  supposed  to  have  used  a  large 
corruption  fund. 

When  Congress  reassembled  Jackson  reported  his 
action  and  justified  it,  recommending  that  the 
$7,000,000  of  stock  held  by  the  government  be  sold. 
That  trouble  was  at  hand  was  evident  from  the 
fact  that  the  bank  had  not  paid  some  national  bonds 
when  due  though  supposedly  it  had  plenty  of  fed- 
eral money  and  a  large  surplus.  Instead  it  had 
secured  from  the  holders  an  extension,  and  for  this 
suspicious  circumstance  tlie  bank  gave  a  reason 
which  satisfied  its  friends  only. 

The  bank  men  in  Congress  were  furious,  particu- 
larly Clay  and  Calhoun,  who  had  their  own  private 
grievances  against  Jackson  as  well  as  their  belief 
in  the  utility  of  the  institution.  The  triumvirate 
which  had  been  broken  by  the  nullification  affair 
was  now  reorganized,  and  the  fight  on  Jackson  was 
renewed  with  enthusiasm,  bitterness  and  not  very 
much  wisdom.  These  giants  could  never  satis- 
factorily account  for  Jackson's  popularity  and  suc- 
cess. The  very  last  concession  they  would  make 
was  that  he  had  larger  abilities  or  greater  political 
wisdom  than  any  one  of  them.  It  is  always  humil- 
iating to  be  defeated  by  one  who  is  considered  in 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  155 

every  way  an  inferior  and  Jackson  was  not  at  all 
particular  about  the  feelings  of  his  enemies.  It  is 
perhaps  correct  to  say  that  Jackson  went  to  intoler- 
able lengths  in  his  animosities  and  that  he  was  often 
malicious  ;  but  as  a  rule  he  was  forced  into  his  at- 
titudes and  those  who  wished  to  escape  his  wrath 
should  not  have  been  so  willing  and  even  anxious 
to  get  in  its  path. 

On  this  occasion  (the  session  of  1832-3)  Clay 
counted  up  his  followers  in  the  Senate  and  found  a 
good  majority.  As  there  seemed  to  be  no  way  in 
which  the  President  could  be  compelled  to  undo 
what  he  had  done  the  only  weapon  left  was  censure. 
Jackson  must  be  made  odious  to  the  public.  For 
this  purpose  Clay  introduced  a  resolution  of  cen- 
sure on  the  President  for  his  action  in  removing  the 
deposits.  This  was  utterly  unprecedented  and  of 
course  made  '' Old  Hickory  "  furious.  The  flood- 
gates of  oratory  were  opened  again  and  in  the 
course  of  a  very  extended  debate  the  whole  subject 
of  the  administration  and  its  financial  policy  was 
threshed  over.  The  foes  of  Jackson  made  much  of 
the  fact  that  there  had  been  a  sudden  and  very 
serious  decline  in  business  prosperity  in  the  last 
few  months  and  attributed  it  directly  to  the  action 
of  the  President.     The  defenders  of  the  administra- 


156  THOMAS  H.  BENTOK 

tion  were  put  on  the  defensive  in  this  respect  for 
the  ''hard  times "  were  undeniable. 

Benton  who  made  above  thirty  speeches  in  this 
debate  insisted  that  the  ''hard  times"  were  arti- 
ficial and  had  been  deliberately  brought  about  by 
the  bank  to  show  its  power.  In  this  view  he  may 
have  had  some  slight  justification  but  there  was 
none  for  the  lengths  to  which  he  carried  the  argu- 
ment. IN'o  one  free  from  partisan  prejudice  could 
deny  that  distress  was  to  some  extent  the  re- 
sult of  the  President's  action.  It  is  manifest  that 
no  bank  could  stand  such  a  sudden  constriction  of 
its  resources  without  disaster.  During  the  previous 
contest,  as  has  already  been  noted,  the  institution 
had  very  greatly  extended  its  credits  and  it  is  said 
that  some  sixty  members  of  Congress  were  borrow- 
ers or  were  retained  as  counsel.  When  the  blow 
fell  the  bank  could  do  nothing  but  call  in  its  loans 
as  they  matured.  In  many  cases  the  borrowers 
were  unable  to  pay  promptly  and  this  brought 
about  a  great  disturbance  of  business.  Although 
the  state  banks  had  the  money  that  might  have 
been  in  the  I^ational  Bank  and  were  urged  by  the 
Secretary  to  be  liberal  in  discounts,  especially  to 
merchants  in  foreign  trade,  such  readjustments  of 
credit  are  not  easily  made.     While  the  condition  of 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  157 

the  country  at  no  time  bordered  on  panic  there 
was  great  restriction  in  business  and  no  little 
distress. 

The  net  result  of  the  winter's  campaign  against 
Jackson  was  the  passage  of  the  resolution  of  censure 
by  the  Senate,  to  which  the  President  replied  in  a 
vigorous  paper  declaring  that  the  action  of  that 
body  was  illegal  and  void,  and  defending  himself 
with  as  much  dignity  as  possible  from  the  asper- 
sions upon  his  character.  Thereupon  the  Senate 
passed  another  resolution  to  the  effect  that  Jack- 
son's reply  was  improper  and  out  of  place. 

The  effect  of  the  resolution  was  far  from  being 
what  the  triumvirate  had  expected.  Once  more 
the  people  sided  with  Jackson,  because  they  saw  in 
this  plan  to  humiliate  him  not  an  attempt  to  main- 
tain national  dignity,  but  an  effort  of  disappointed 
statesmen  to  get  even  with  a  successful  rival. 
Benton  at  once  announced  his  intention  to  work  for 
an  expunging  resolution,  and  he  finally  succeeded. 
In  fact,  had  the  friends  of  the  bank  kept  quiet 
Jackson  would  have  come  out  of  the  affair  with 
little  credit,  since  there  appeared  to  be  nothing  that 
justified  his  action  in  withdrawing  the  deposits  j 
certainly  there  was  no  occasion  for  so  radical  a 
measure.     It  was  another  of  those  cases  in  which 


158  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

Jackson  was  happier  in  the  wrath  of  his  friends  than 
in  the  value  of  his  own  acts. 

Moreover  a  curious  situation  now  developed. 
Webster  prepared  a  bill  which  extended  the 
charter  of  the  bank  for  six  years  and  took  from  it 
the  exclusive  monopoly  it  had  so  long  enjoyed ; 
while  it  was  arranged  that  the  national  deposits 
should  be  restored  gradually  so  as  not  to  embarrass 
the  state  bank  depositories.  Benton  was  not  vio- 
lently opposed  to  this  plan.  The  measure  was 
agreeable  to  a  majority  in  both  Houses  and  there  is 
reason  to  think  that  Jackson  would  have  signed  it 
if  the  resolution  of  censure  had  not  been  passed. 
Most  unexpectedly  neither  Clay  nor  Calhoun  would 
support  the  measure,  though  it  was  understood  to 
have  the  approval  of  the  directors  of  the  bank,  who 
thought  it  much  better  to  take  half  a  loaf  than  no 
bread.  Clay  still  asked  for  twenty  years  and  Cal- 
houn favored  twelve.  In  this  situation  no  legis- 
lation was  possible.  Some  of  the  old  enemies  of  the 
bank  voted  for  Webster's  motion,  while  most  of  its 
old  friends  were  against  the  measure.  Benton  here 
appeared  as  a  quasi-champion  of  the  bank  and 
Clay  as  its  bitterest  foe,  and  after  this  there  never 
was  a  chance  of  any  legislation  whatever  in  its 
favor.     The    triumvirate    succeeded,   however,   in 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  159 

defeating  the  confirmation  of  Jackson's  nominees 
for  bank  directors  as  provided  by  its  charter  and  of 
Taney  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  notice  Benton  had  immediately  given  that 
he  would  move  for  an  expunging  of  the  resolution 
of  censure  against  the  President  was  no  idle  threat. 
It  was  introduced  regularly  at  every  session  and  was 
made  the  basis  of  many  of  his  speeches  in  which  he 
again  and  again  went  over  the  whole  history  of  the 
bank  and  its  crimes  until  it  is  no  wonder  that  his 
colleagues  were  tired  of  the  subject  and  devoutly 
wished  he  would  drop  it.  In  his  way  he  was  as 
persistent  as  Jackson,  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  in 
the  last  months  of  that  President's  administration, 
after  the  Senate  had  so  changed  its  membership  as 
to  contain  an  administration  majority,  the  resolu- 
tion expunging  the  original  resolution  of  censure 
was  passed  by  a  vote  of  twenty -four  to  nineteen. 
This  was  one  of  the  sweetest  triumphs  of  Benton's 
life.  It  was  in  a  sense  mere  brutum  fulmen,  for  the 
original  resolution  was  one  in  which  a  simple 
opinion  had  been  expressed.  It  had  no  official 
significance,  but  it  rankled  in  Jackson's  breast  and 
Benton  was  set  on  righting  the  injury.  The  night 
on  which  this  deed  was  accomplished  was  one  of  the 
most  famous  in  the  history  of  the  Senate.     In  vain 


160  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

did  the  giants  of  the  triumvirate  protest  against 
expunging.  They  had  none  of  that  masterful  air  of 
a  few  years  previous,  when  they  were  able  to  con- 
trol the  Senate.  They  now  took  lofty  ground  in 
justifying  their  position,  and  moved  not  a  whit. 
By  this  time  the  people  had  so  far  vindicated 
Jackson  once  more  as  to  elect  as  his  successor 
Van  Buren,  whom  he  had  personally  singled  out 
for  the  honor. 

Benton  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  resolution 
should  pass  on  that  day  (January  16, 1837),  no  matter 
what  the  consequences,  and  he  held  his  followers  in 
leash  so  that  they  could  not  escape  even  had  they 
wished.  Aware  that  human  nature  is  very  weak 
and  prone  to  err  when  not  properly  sustained  by 
food  and  drink,  he  had  a  committee-room  close  at 
hand  well -stocked  with  hams,  turkeys,  rounds  of 
beef,  pickles,  wine,  coffee  and  everything  that 
could  tempt  the  appetite,  so  that  his  men  should 
not  stray  away.  The  triumvirate  had  imagined 
that  it  was  possible  to  postpone  action,  but  now 
that  they  were  at  bay  they  made  their  valedictories 
on  the  subject,  and  others  who  saw  that  the  end 
was  near,  refused  longer  to  carry  on  the  contest. 
When  the  resolution  passed,  Benton  moved  to 
carry    it    into    immediate    execution,    which   was 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  161 

accordiugly  done.  The  secretary  of  the  Senate 
opened  the  record  and  diew  a  black  border  around 
the  offending  resolution  and  across  its  face  wrote 
the  words,  ''  Expunged  by  order  of  the  Senate  this 
16th  day  of  January,  1837."  '  At  this  announce- 
ment the  galleries  broke  out  into  hisses.  There  had 
been  so  much  excitement  over  the  matter,  and  some 
of  the  speeches  of  the  evening  had  been  so  bitter 
that  many  of  Benton's  friends  believed  he  was 
about  to  be  assaulted  by  roughs  in  the  gallery  whom 
they  considered  partisans  of  the  bank.  Some  of 
these  friends  left  the  room  and  brought  in  pistols, 
while  Mrs.  Benton,  who  feared  that  her  husband 
was  to  be  assassinated,  had  come  into  the  Senate 
chamber,  resolved  to  suffer  the  same  fate  if  neces- 
sary. There  is  no  good  reason  to  believe  that  an 
assault  was  intended,  certainly  it  was  not  inspired 
by  any  one  in  a  position  of  authority  5  but  in  those 
days  the  mob  had  begun  to  feel  its  power,  a  state  of 
things  for  which  Jackson  was  in  no  small  measure 
responsible,  and  every  precaution  was  taken  to 
protect  Benton.  The  latter  had  no  fear,  and  when 
the  presiding  officer  gave  the  order  to  have  the 
galleries  cleared  he  interfered  and  said  with  some 
show  of  bravado  : 

^  Devens,  "  Our  First  Century." 


162  THOMAS  H.  BE^^TON 

'^  I  hope  the  galleries  will  not  be  cleared,  as 
many  innocent  persons  will  be  excluded,  who  have 
been  guilty  of  no  violation  of  order.  Let  the 
rnffians  who  alone  have  made  this  disturbance  be 
punished.  Let  them  be  apprehended.  I  hope  the 
sergeant-at-arms  will  be  directed  to  enter  the  gallery 
and  seize  the  ruffians,  ascertaining  who  they  are  in 
the  best  way  he  can.  Let  him  apprehend  them  and 
bring  them  to  the  bar  of  the  Senate.  Let  him  seize 
the  bank  ruffians.  I  hope  they  will  not  now  be 
permitted  to  insult  the  Senate  as  they  did  when  it 
was  under  the  power  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  when  ruffians,  with  arms  upon  them,  in- 
sulted us  with  impunity.  Let  them  be  taken  and 
brought  to  the  bar  of  the  Senate.  Here  is  one  just 
above  me,  that  may  be  easily  identified,  one  of  the 
bank  ruffians !" 

The  sergeant-at-arms  went  to  the  gallery,  seized 
the  ringleader  and  brought  him  to  the  bar,  at  which 
his  colleagues  left  the  gallery  in  haste.  The  man 
was  allowed  to  go  after  vainly  pleading  for  a  chance 
to  explain.  This  ended  the  disturbances,  and  the 
solemnities  of  the  occasion  were  not  again  interfered 
with. 

Thus  the  long  contest  was  closed  and  Jackson 
showed  his  appreciation  of  the  service  by  inviting 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  163 

all  the  expungers  and  their  wives  to  a  dinner  where 
Benton  took  the  post  of  honor,  since  the  President 
was  too  weak  to  attend  ;  and  a  merry  time  was  had 
toasting  Jackson  and  the  Jacksonians. ' 

Meantime  the  bank  recharter  question  died.  In 
the  Whig  administration  of  1841-5,  under  the 
leadership  of  Clay,  two  bank  bills  were  passed 
and  both  were  vetoed  by  Tyler.  The  bank  secured 
a  Pennsylvania  charter  and  soon  went  into  in- 
solvency. Our  present  national  banks  established 
during  the  Civil  War  have  no  likeness  whatever  to 
the  two  institutions  which  were  so  long  factors  in 
national  politics.  They  more  nearly  represent  in 
their  actual  business  relations  the  state  banks  of 
the  Jacksonian  period,  though  the  latter  had  no 
federal  supervision  and  were  frequently  un- 
sound. 

His  contest  in  behalf  of  the  expunging  resolution 
was  Benton's  last  important  personal  service  to 

*  During  the  angry  debates  over  censure,  Jackson  had  the 
Benton  bullet,  received  in  the  Tennessee  brawl,  extracted  from 
his  shoulder.  There  is  some  doubt  whether  Jesse  or  Thomas 
Benton  fired  the  shot.  Jackson's  latest  biographer  states  that  it 
was  Thomas  and  that  Jackson  offered  him  the  bullet  as  a 
souvenir,  which  was  declined.  Other  biographers  aflBrm  that 
it  was  Jesse.  Thomas  says  nothing  about  it,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  in  the  melee  no  one  knew  certainly  who  fired  the 
shot. 


164  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

Jackson,  and  it  practically  concluded  a  political 
alliance  that  is  one  of  the  strangest  in  our  history. 
It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  service  which 
Benton  rendered  his  chief.  Jackson's  defects  were 
so  many  and  so  radical  that  unless  he  had  been  sus- 
tained by  strong  men  he  must  necessarily  have  suf- 
fered in  popular  estimation  and  might  never  have 
been  re-elected.  It  was  his  good  fortune  to  have  at 
his  right  hand  a  man  who  served  him  with  a  de- 
votion and  an  unselfishness  which  have  seldom  been 
equaled.  Benton  owed  nothing  to  Jackson  for  his 
election  or  continuance  in  office  at  any  time.  He 
never  asked  a  personal  favor  of  him,  refused  many 
honors  which  were  offered  him,  and  was  never  even 
a  member  of  his  ''  Kitchen  Cabinet."  Moreover  at 
a  time  when  Jackson  was  surrounded  by  a  set  of 
sycophants  and  office-seekers,  men  who  crooked  the 
pregnant  hinges  of  the  knees  that  thrift  should  fol- 
low their  fawning,  and  who  succeeded  admirably 
in  filling  their  pockets  with  ill-gotten  gains,  Ben- 
ton had  clean  hands.  In  all  this  saturnalia  of  po- 
litical jobbery  and  robbery  of  the  public,  he  took 
no  part  and  never  gained  a  penny. 

In  the  partnership  the  advantage  was  all  Jack- 
son's except  what  inhered  to  Benton  in  his  con- 
sciousness of  duty  done.     Benton  was  no  prude  and 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  165 

did  not  set  himself  up  to  be  better  than  the  rest  of 
mankind.  He  liked  politics  but  he  played  the 
game  in  a  large  way  and  would  not  be  turned  from 
a  chosen  couj'se  by  any  considerations.  In  one  of 
the  last  panegyrics  which  Benton  dedicated  to 
Jackson,  his  final  speech  on  the  expunging  resolu- 
tion, the  senator  from  Missouri  said  : 

*^  Great  is  the  confidence  which  he  has  always 
reposed  in  the  discernment  and  equity  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.  I  have  been  accustomed  to  see  him 
for  many  years,  and  under  many  discouraging 
trials ;  but  never  saw  him  doubt,  for  an  instant, 
the  ultimate  support  of  the  people.  It  was  my 
privilege  to  see  him  often,  and  during  the  most 
gloomy  period  of  the  panic  conspiracy,  when  the 
whole  earth  seemed  to  be  in  commotion  against 
him,  and  when  many  friends  were  faltering,  and 
stout  hearts  were  quailing  before  the  raging  storm 
which  bank  machination  and  senatorial  denunci- 
ation had  conjured  up  to  overwhelm  him.  I  saw 
him  in  the  darkest  moments  of  this  gloomy  period  ; 
and  never  did  I  see  his  confidence  in  the  ultimate 
support  of  his  fellow -citizens  forsake  him  for  an 
instant.  He  always  said  the  people  would  stand  by 
those  who  stand  by  them ;  and  nobly  have  they 
justified  that  confidence !    That  verdict,  the  voice 


166  THOMAS  H.  BE:N"T0IS' 

of  millions,  which  now  demands  the  expurgation  of 
that  sentence,  which  the  Senate  and  the  bank  then 
pronounced  upon  him,  is  the  magnificent  response 
of  the  people's  hearts  to  the  implicit  confidence 
which  he  then  reposed  in  them.  But  it  was  not  in 
the  people  only  that  he  had  confidence ;  there  was 
another,  and  a  far  higher  Power,  to  which  he  con- 
stantly looked  to  save  the  country  and  its  defend- 
ers, from  every  danger ;  and  signal  events  prove 
that  he  did  not  look  to  that  at  high  Power  in 
vain.'^ 

Although  long  in  the  minority  in  the  Senate, 
Benton  always  fought  manfully  and  doggedly.  A 
visitor  at  this  period  refers  to  him  as  a  ^ '  gnarled 
oak."  It  hardly  seems  a  happj'  simile,  though  it 
must  have  had  some  application  in  the  fact  that  he 
stood  unbending  in  the  storm  of  opposition  to 
Jackson.  Others  called  him  a  ''wild  buffalo."  A 
man  of  less  stamina  would  have  succumbed  :  one  of 
less  courage  and  devotion  would  have  abandoned 
the  contest  many  times.  Benton  did  not  love  a  fight 
for  its  own  sake  but  he  never  avoided  one,  and 
when  once  engaged  in  it  he  followed  as  far  as  pos- 
sible the  advice  of  Polonius. 

AYith  his  increasing  influence  and  power  as  his 
faction  got  into  control  he  lost  none  of  his  vanity, 


THE  NATIOI^AL  BA^K  167 

which  after  all  was  of  a  very  harmless  sort.  He 
seemed  to  feel  the  weight  of  the  country  on  his 
shoulders  and  never  underestimated  his  abilities  in 
any  direction.  He  sat  in  the  Senate  during  every 
hour  of  the  session,  watching  every  movement  and 
nagging  the  opposition  in  a  way  that  was  not  al- 
ways dignified  or  pleasant.  Still  that  was  an  ac- 
cepted part  of  the  proceedings  at  the  time  and  was 
indulged  in  by  nearly  all  of  the  leaders  on  both 
sides. 

Benton's  tendency  to  talk  on  all  occasions  in- 
creased as  he  felt  himself  to  be  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
administration  and  as  has  been  said  he  was  not  al- 
ways a  pleasing  speaker.  He  was  dogmatic,  imper- 
ious and  so  devoted  to  wild  western  manners,  it  is 
related,  that  he  usually  spoke  to  empty  galleries 
and  often  to  empty  seats  in  the  chamber.  '  This 
did  not  discomfit  him  in  the  least.  He  spoke  for 
those  outside  the  Senate  though  he  often  criticised 
others  for  doing  the  same  thing.  He  contributed  to 
the  Globe  with  a  trenchant  pen  and  inspired  Blair 
in  much  that  the  latter  wrote.  His  energy  knew  no 
bounds  and  to  this  and  the  fact  that  he  was  stead- 
fast may  be  attributed  much  of  the  success  he 
achieved,  for  he  was  a  sound  rather  than  a  talented 
'"  Reminiscences  "  of  Ben  Perley  Poore. 


168  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

man.  He  was  able  to  accomplish  so  much  more  than 
many  of  his  more  brilliant  contemporaries  because 
he  allowed  nothing  to  interfere  with  his  work,  and 
his  industry  received  its  reward. 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

*'OLD   bullion'^ 

If  in  these  years  Benton's  sole  task  had  been  to 
kill  the  National  Bank  the  achievement  would 
have  been  of  little  credit  to  him.  His  main  purpose 
was  to  establish  gold  and  silver  as  the  standards 
of  value  in  the  nation.  This  he  did  but  not  until 
the  country  had  passed  through  fiery  trials.  State 
banks  were  not  all  sound  but  they  managed 
for  a  time  to  thrive  for  the  reason  that  busi- 
ness, which  had  been  dull,  revived  after  the  'Na,- 
tional  Bank  had  lost  the  deposits.  It  was  evident 
to  Benton  that  the  situation  was  far  from  satisfac- 
tory and  that  something  must  be  done  to  improve 
the  currency.  It  is  much  to  his  honor  and  greatly 
also  to  the  credit  of  the  many  leaders  who  opposed 
the  President's  bank  policy  that  some  remedial 
legislation  was  enacted.  Benton  had  always  op- 
posed any  sort  of  national  paper  currency  and  be- 
lieved that  coin  only  should  be  used,  asserting  in- 
deed that  it  alone  was  constitutional  money. 

Banking    at    this  time  was  scarcely  a  science 


170  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

except  with  a  few  of  the  larger  institutions.  In 
fairness  to  the  National  Bank,  in  spite  of  polit- 
ical attacks  upon  it,  it  should  be  said  that  it  well 
maintained  its  credit  through  most  of  its  career. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  early  management  there  had 
been  looseness  which  required  a  new  administration, 
but  the  system  was  now  so  excellent  that  it  was 
called  the  Gibraltar  of  American  credit.  The  banks 
of  New  England,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  as  a 
rule  maintained  specie  payments  except  in  times  of 
great  distress.  But  as  one  moved  South  and  West 
the  bills  of  state  banks  were  accepted  only  accord- 
ing to  a  depreciated  scale.  The  merchant  found 
great  dif&culty  in  doing  business  when  there  were 
in  circulation  so  many  kinds  of  bills  of  such 
varying  value  and  in  addition  such  large  num- 
bers of  counterfeits.  The  most  indispensable  book 
in  any  business  house  was  the  "Counterfeit  De- 
tector'^ with  a  table  giving  the  scale  of  exchange  at 
which  bills  were  received  in  various  places. 

Others  were  equally  affected.  The  farmer  who 
sold  his  grain  had  to  scrutinize  with  the  greatest 
care  the  notes  offered  him  and  not  infrequently 
sustained  heavy  losses.  The  worst  sufferer  of  all 
was  the  wage-earner  who  worked  for  an  unscrupu- 
lous employer.     The  latter  would  often  purchase 


^^OLD  BULLION"  171 

depreciated  notes  and  pay  his  hands  in  these  at  face 
value,  any  refusal  to  accept  them  being  met  with 
dismissal.  One  of  the  largest  of  American  bank- 
ing houses  was  established  by  a  German  portrait 
painter  who  roamed  from  one  section  of  tlie  coun- 
try to  another  and  found  in  buying  and  selling 
bank  notes  a  greater  profit  than  in  painting  pic- 
tures. 

Bad  as  was  the  condition  of  the  currency  at  this 
time  there  was  no  denying  the  fact  that  it  had  been 
a  great  deal  worse  during  those  years  when  there 
had  been  no  National  Bank.  Even  Madison  had 
been  obliged  to  admit  that  fact  and  those  strict 
constructionist  Democrats  who  had  looked  upon 
Hamilton's  first  bank  as  a  monster  of  iniquity  were 
compelled  to  permit  the  establishment  of  a  second. 
If  the  partisans  of  the  bank  had  been  more  honest, 
more  adroit  and  had  seemed  to  have  less  personal 
interest  in  its  fortunes,  the  result  would  have  been 
better  for  the  recharter  movement.  Clay  and  Web- 
ster were  correct  in  pointing  out  the  great  advan- 
tages that  had  accrued  through  its  operations. 
They  believed  that  the  country  would  never  be 
able  to  get  along  without  it  and  doubted  whether 
any  alternative  could  be  supplied  sufficient  for  the 
public    needs.     It    was    generally  agreed  that  it 


172  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

would  be  a  good  thing  if  the  nation  were  on  a 
specie  basis,  but  to  most  business  men  the  obstacles 
seemed  insurmountable. 

Benton  appears  to  have  missed  the  essential  idea 
that,  in  business,  credit  is  as  important  as  money,  and 
that  under  proper  restrictions  credit  money  is  ab- 
solutely essential  to  prosperity.  He  did  not  under- 
stand that  when  coin  formed  so  small  a  part  of  the 
money  supply  of  the  nation  it  would  be  a  dif&cult 
task  to  get  it  into  circulation.  Gresham's  law  that 
bad  money  drives  out  good  had  been  tested  in  this 
country.  Coin  and  the  best  notes  were  hoarded 
while  every  one  got  rid  of  depreciated  or  doubtful 
notes  or  bad  coin  at  the  first  opportunity.  At  this 
time  we  had  scarcely  any  gold  in  the  country  be- 
cause the  standard  of  fifteen  to  one  established  by 
Jefferson  had  proven  to  be  an  incorrect  ratio.  The 
true  ratio  was  less  than  sixteen  to  one  and  there  it 
long  remained.  To  get  gold  into  circulation  Ben- 
ton secured  the  passage  of  laws  fixing  the  ratio 
at  sixteen  to  one,  though  he  preferred  the  exact 
fraction.  A  branch  mint  was  established  at  !Rew 
Orleans  and  through  his  efforts  gold  coins  were 
restored  to  the  currency  of  the  country.  Benton^  s 
^^mint  drops,"  as  they  were  called,  were  very  pop- 
ular.    They  aided  Jackson  in  the  fall  elections  and 


''OLD  BULLION''  173 

were  the  first  gold  coins  which  many  of  the  people 
had  ever  seen.  Even  the  ardent  friends  of  the  bank 
could  not  fail  to  see  that  gold  was  the  best  money,  if 
enough  of  it  could  be  secured,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  country  did  have  a  large  amount  of  it  in  circu- 
lation, since  it  came  back  from  Europe  under  the 
new  ratio  which  overvalued  it. 

Being  scientifically  incorrect  one  of  the  results  of 
the  change  of  ratio  was  to  send  abroad  some  of  the 
silver,  which  alarmed  the  administration.  In  its 
efforts  to  bring  sih^er  into  use  again  it  refused  de- 
posits to  banks  which  emitted  notes  of  a  smaller  de- 
nomination than  five  dollars,  though  it  could  not 
prevent  a  large  number  of  these  from  being  issued 
by  other  banks.  Coin  was  popular  and  but  for  the 
crash  that  soon  came  the  country  might  have  passed 
over  to  a  specie  basis  sooner  than  even  Benton  ex- 
pected. 

The  measure  which  was  more  effectual  than  all 
others  in  bringing  coin  into  common  use  was  the 
celebrated  specie  circular  which  required  that  public 
lands  should  be  paid  for  in  hard  money.  This  was 
a  radical  step  and  though  eventually  it  would  have 
been  a  most  necessary  one,  it  came  at  a  rather  in- 
opportune time  as  was  soon  manifested.  The  ne- 
cessity for  this  order  lay  in  the  fact  that  land  sales 


174  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

were  now  amounting  to  about  forty  millions  a  year, 
and,  under  the  policy  by  which  state  bank  notes 
were  accepted  in  payment,  there  had  been  a  great 
deal  of  speculation.  Banks  were  springing  up  all 
over  the  country;  the  earlier  total  of  five  hundred 
was  soon  doubled.  There  was  a  craze  for  this 
sort  of  enterprise  and  even  if  the  banks  had  been 
established  on  a  sound  basis  there  was  no  need 
for  so  many.  As  a  matter  of  fact  many  of  them 
were  the  flimsiest  sort  of  financial  structures,  erected 
under  loose  general  laws  or  charters  granted  by  too 
accommodating  legislatures.  It  seemed  easy  to 
print  money  and  get  rich  and  for  a  time  there  en- 
sued a  fictitious  prosperity. 

Under  an  act  of  Congress  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury was  given  discretionary  power  in  receiving  the 
notes  of  banks  for  public  lands,  but  up  to  this  time 
he  had  never  interfered  in  the  matter.  So  long  as  the 
notes  were  actually  redeemable  in  specie  little  dam- 
age was  done,  but  with  many  banks  this  was  an  un- 
certain quantity,  and  they  were  liable  to  break  under 
any  unusual  stress.  The  fact  that  such  an  enormous 
business  was  done  in  purchasing  lands  with  notes 
bought  at  a  discount  showed  how  hollow  was  the  pre- 
tense of  the  system  of  specie  payments  which  the  gov- 
ernment maintained.     Still  the  evil  was  one  that  was 


^^OLD  BULLION  ^^  175 

not  so  great  until  the  craze  for  new  banks  broke  out 
and  the  people  engaged  in  land  speculation.  Much 
of  this -paper  was  in  fact  irredeemable  and  when  the 
land  sjiles  amounted  to  five  millions  a  month  it  was 
evident  that  there  was  danger  lest  the  lands  would 
be  lost  to  the  government,  owing  to  the  prospect  of 
its  being  unable  to  redeem  much  of  the  currency 
paid  for  them.  Benton  endeavored  to  secure  the 
passage  of  a  law  requiring  coin  to  be  used  in  pay- 
ment for  lands.  This  was  a  total  failure  partly  be- 
cause the  people  were  still  wild  over  paper  money 
and  partly,  as  Benton  asserted,  because  so  many 
members  were  actively  engaged  in  land  speculation 
on  their  own  account. 

In  1836  he  again  proposed  to  the  President  that 
specie  alone  be  accepted  in  payment  for  land  and 
though  ' '  Old  Hickory ' '  was  not  a  great  financier  he 
endorsed  the  plan.  He  discovered  that  his  cabinet 
was  strongly  opposed  to  the  measure  so  he  called 
them  in  session,  and  had  Benton  in  an  ante-room 
where  he  wrote  out  the  executive  order  which  was 
signed  at  once  to  the  disgust  of  the  members  of  the 
cabinet,  the  wrath  of  land  speculators  and  the  dis- 
tress of  many  honest  purchasers.  In  the  end  it 
proved  a  salutary  measure.  As  it  was,  the  injury 
had  been  so  great  that  much  of  the  currency  re- 


176  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOK 

ceived  from  the  sales  turned  out  to  be  absolutely 
worthless. 

The  financial  measures  of  Benton,  for  they  were 
his  and  his  almost  alone,  proved  to  have  more  last- 
ing value  than  any  other  legislation  of  the  time. 
It  is  true  that  if  the  bank  had  been  rechartered  we 
might  have  had  no  panic  of  1837  but  that  is  one  of 
those  hy]3othetical  statements  made  by  politicians 
for  political  effect,  the  truth  of  which  can  well  be 
doubted.  Even  the  bank  might  have  gone  down 
and  certainly  would  have  done  so  had  it  not  mended 
its  ways.  It  is  also  quite  unlikely,  even  if  it  had 
remained  sound,  that  the  prosperity  of  the  country 
could  have  continued  without  the  periodical  depres- 
sion. We  have  had  panics  in  this  country  about 
every  twenty  years  with  a  regularity  that  cannot  be 
laid  entirely  at  the  door  of  legislation,  though  they 
may  have  been  to  some  extent  induced  by  it.  The 
truth  is  that  there  is  in  the  optimistic,  reckless 
American  spirit  a  tendency  to  speculation  that  can- 
not be  curbed,  no  matter  how  fair  the  warning  or 
how  grave  the  former  experience. 

It  was  certain  that  we  could  not  indefinitely  con- 
tinue on  a  paper  basis  and  the  fact  that  Benton  was 
the  first  to  foresee  the  need  of  coin  and  to  fight  un- 
til he  attained  success  stamj^s  him  as  one  of  the 


^^OLD  BULLION"  177 

great  constructive  statesmen  of  the  age.  In  this 
work  he  had  the  support  of  some  of  the  friends  of 
the  bank,  but  Clay  was  adamant  to  the  last,  oppos- 
ing not  only  the  new  standard  but  the  establishment 
of  branch  mints.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that 
so  enlightened  a  statesman  as  Clay,  one  so  potential 
for  good  in  the  country,  should  at  various  times 
have  allowed  personal  spleen  or  misguided  judg- 
ment to  stand  in  the  way  of  progress. 

Benton,  however,  was  not  to  escape  without  much 
censure  for  his  acts.  As  coin  came  into  circulation 
the  poorer  classes  were  benefited,  but  there  were 
many  who  found  their  profits  diminished  by  the 
process  and  there  were  others  who  saw  in  the  meas- 
ure a  fatal  blow  at  the  bank.  Benton  was  dubbed 
^'Old  Bullion"  and  given  other  titles  in  derision 
which  finally  came  to  be  badges  of  honor.  By  his 
new  currency  law  and  the  executive  order  the 
Democratic  party  was  eventually  divided  into  two 
factions,  the  ''Hards"  and  the  "Softs,"  and 
though  the  distinction  was  at  first  on  a  question  of 
finance  it  finally  came  to  have  local  applications 
quite  distinct  from  the  currency. 

Directly  and  indirectly  it  is  clear  that  Jackson's 
war  on  the  bank  brought  much  disaster,  although 
it  was  practically   not  anything  like  as  great  as 


178  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

was  attributed  to  his  action;  and  it  can  be  confidently 
asserted  that  we  should  not  have  escaped  some 
set-backs  if  Jackson  had  been  the  most  ardent 
supporter  of  the  institution  which  it  was  his  chief 
delight  to  attack.  Looking  back  over  the  nearly 
seventy  years  which  have  elapsed  since  that  time 
we  can  see  that  whatever  errors  may  be  attributed  to 
the  administration  the  establishment  of  the  specie 
standard  is  one  of  the  most  beneficent  in  our  his- 
tory. 

The  specie  standard  is  the  most  enduring  monu- 
ment to  Benton.  It  cannot  of  course  be  claimed 
for  him  that  he  is  responsible  for  the  legislation  of 
recent  years,  but  it  can  truthfully  be  said  that  with- 
out the  legislation  which  he  secured  our  present 
standard  might  never  have  been  established,  or 
would  have  been  attained  with  greater  diffi- 
culty. To  the  pioneer  always  belongs  the  credit 
and  what  others  might  have  done  is  of  less  con- 
sequence than  the  fact  that  Benton  actually  did  put 
coin  into  general  circulation  where  formerly  there 
was  only  paper,  much  of  which  was  depreciable 
and  some  of  it  valueless. 

It  would  seem  as  if  some  happy  genius  had  pre- 
sided over  the  political  destinies  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son.    His  enemies  said  that  he  had  good  luck  and 


^'OLD  BULLION'^  179 

certainly  it  would  seem  more  than  a  mere  coinci- 
dence that  he  had  no  sooner  left  the  capital  after 
installing  his  successor  and  presenting  him  with  his 
cabinet  than  the  greatest  financial  crisis  in  our  his- 
tory up  to  that  time  confronted  the  country. 
Already  there  had  been  mutterings  of  the  storm, 
but  now  it  broke  in  all  its  fury  and  conditions  were 
deplorable.  Banks  suspended  specie  payments, 
many  went  into  bankruptcy,  business  men  failed, 
industry  of  every  sort  contracted ;  there  was 
distress  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other 
and  the  wail  that  arose  was  well-nigh  unanimous. 
The  government  lost  millions  in  the  state  bank 
depositories  which  failed  and  this  was  the  hardest 
blow  at  Benton^  s  policy. 

As  Jackson  had  received  the  benefit  of  prosperity, 
whether  responsible  for  it  or  not,  the  administra- 
tion now  had  to  suffer  for  evil  times  and  was  held 
guilty  of  all  that  had  occurred.  Van  Buren  had 
been  a  staunch  Jackson  man  so  that  he  could  not 
escape  censure  even  if  he  had  so  desired.  No  ad- 
ministration ever  started  out  under  more  unfavor- 
able circumstances.  The  Whigs  had  no  difficulty 
in  indicting  the  administration  and  the  Democratic 
party  in  general,  and  laid  the  blame  to  the  following 
causes  :    Failure  to  recharter  the  bank  ;  removal 


180  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOI^ 

of  the  deposits ;  the  specie  circular ;  maladminis- 
tration of  financial  affairs ;  deposit  of  money  in 
banks  which  failed ;  the  tariff  compromise ;  de- 
falcation of  public  officials. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  these  were  contributing 
causes  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  they 
were  the  only  factors,  or  that  these  measures 
were  all  of  them  vicious  in  all  of  their  workings. 
It  was  a  difficult  task  for  the  supporters  of  the  ad- 
ministration to  explain  the  situation.  They  could 
not  do  so  with  general  satisfaction.  Nothing  ex- 
cuses ''hard  times."  Benton,  however,  went  man- 
fully to  the  task,  feeling  his  own  conscience  pretty 
clear.  In  February  when  the  storm  was  seen  by  him 
to  be  impending  he  knew  that  something  must  be 
done  and  for  the  purpose  invited  the  president-elect, 
then  vice-president,  into  a  committee  room  to  dis- 
cuss the  matter  with  him.  As  Benton  was  really 
responsible  for  most  of  the  financial  legislation  of 
the  Jackson  administration  it  was  natural  that  he 
should  desire  to  give  what  aid  he  could  and  he  ex- 
pected to  be  well  received.  On  the  contrary  as  soon 
as  the  subject  was  opened  Van  Buren  remarked  : 

"  Your  friends  think  you  are  a  little  exalted  in 
the  head  on  the  subject." 

This  statement  angered  Benton  and  he  said  no 


^'OLD  BULLION'^  181 

more  but  left  the  room,  muttering  to  himself,  ^*  You 
will  soon  feel  the  thunderbolt."  Later  he  regretted 
his  exhibition  of  temper  but  it  is  doubtful  if  he 
could  have  had  much  influence  with  Van  Buren  in 
any  event.  This  is  a  side-light  on  Benton's  char- 
acter and  exhibits  the  temper  of  the  times.  Busi- 
ness was  at  that  time  moving  under  fair  skies  and 
few  looked  for  stormy  weather.^ 

After  the  panic  began  Benton  made  many 
speeches  in  the  Senate.  He  referred  to  the  charges 
against  the  Democratic  party  and  answered  them 
seriatim.  He  attacked  the  bank  as  the  Bed  Harlot 
and  asserted  that  it  and  other  banks  had  purposely 
brought  on  the  crisis  to  hurt  the  administration. 
This  was  no  new  idea  of  his.  He  had  thought  the 
same  thing  a  few  years  before  and  nothing  in  Ben- 
ton's career  is  quite  so  unsatisfactory  as  this  opin- 
ion which  he  so  often  reiterated.  Banks  do  not 
commit  suicide.  It  is  possible  that  at  times  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  did  go  outside  its  normal 
sphere  of  activity  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  on  poli- 
tics, and  even  may  have  done  a  good  deal  that  is  dis- 
creditable ;  but  to  blame  it  and  the  other  banks  for 
bringing  on  a  crisis  to  ruin  the  government  for  polit- 
ical reasons  and  necessarily  ruin  themselves  is  not 
»  Benton's  "Thirty  Years'  View." 


182  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON^ 

logical  and.  shows  how  prejudiced  Benton  had  be- 
come against  the  institution  which  he  had  fought 
so  long.  On  the  other  hand  it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  failure  to  recharter  the  bank  was  alone  or  even 
lai'gely  responsible  for  its  own  failure  or  the  panic 
which  ensued,  though  this  act  did  something  to 
disturb  business  conditions. 

As  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits  the  only  direct 
influence  of  that  policy  in  bringing  about  the  panic 
was  in  the  rearrangement  of  business  which  ensued, 
since  the  money  was  still  available  for  public  use. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  in  the  end  it  did  not  advantage 
these  banks,  for  they  failed  almost  without  excep- 
tion, and  very  little  was  ever  recovered  by  the  gov- 
ernment. K  the  National  Bank  had  retained  the 
deposits  it  might  have  weathered  the  storm,  but 
the  management  had  now  become  so  reckless  that 
it  is  not  safe  to  say  the  country  would  have  been 
better  off  in  the  end. 

The  bitterest  attack  was  on  the  specie  circular. 
It  is  true  that  this  circular  had  made  necessarj^  the 
use  of  an  immense  amount  of  specie,  but  according 
to  Benton,  under  the  operation  of  his  own  legisla- 
tion, the  fund  had  increased  in  a  few  years  from 
twenty  millions  to  one  hundred  millions.  It  had 
acquainted  the  people  with  hard  money.     Depre- 


^^OLD  BULLION"  183 

elated  bank  notes  were  no  longer  the  principal 
medium  of  exchange.  The  worst  that  can  be  said 
of  this  order  is  that  it  was  premature.  The  same 
results  might  have  been  attained  gradually,  but 
that  it  was  a  proper  principle  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  it  survived  until  the  Civil  War. 

Of  the  defalcation  of  many  of  Jackson's  officials 
there  is  no  doubt  whatever  and  no  defense.  At 
no  previous  time  had  the  public  service  been  so 
disgracefully  debauched,  but  this  scandal  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  panic.  Benton  asserted  with 
truth  that  much  of  the  misery  of  the  time  was  due 
to  the  fictitious  prosperity  that  had  come  from  the 
sudden  expansion  of  paper  currency.  There  were 
now  in  the  country  a  thousand  banks  which  issued 
currency,  and  few  of  them  had  anything  like  the 
proper  reserve  in  coin, — many  of  them  had  not 
proper  assets  of  any  kind.  The  people  had  gone 
wild  in  speculation  and  had  run  deeply  into  debt. 
Merchants  had  imported  enormous  amounts  of 
foreign  goods  in  anticipation  of  good  times  so  that 
when  the  banks  suspended.  May  10th,  the  whole 
fabric  went  to  the  ground  at  once.  And  with  it  went 
for  the  time  being  the  fortunes  of  the  Democratic 
party. 

Benton  did  his  best  in  this  crisis.     He  supported 


184  THOMAS  H.  BEOT:0N 

the  administration  and  made  many  speeches.  In 
spite  of  distress,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  at  the  next 
election  the  administration  would  lose  the  House, 
no  change  was  made,  except  through  the  establish- 
ment of  the  independent  treasury  system  by  which 
the  government  was  completely  divorced  from 
banks  of  any  sort.  The  country  had  gone  over 
completely  to  a  specie  basis.  This  was  the  triumph 
of  Benton's  policy.  For  this  he  had  contended  for 
nearly  twenty  years,  and  even  if  it  be  granted  that 
he  had  in  some  cases  acted  too  precipitately  and 
taken  positions  that  were  too  radical,  it  is  certain 
that  the  object  was  worthy  of  great  sacrifice. 

These  were  not  altogether  pleasant  days  for  the 
great  Missourian,  though  he  fared  better  than  some 
members  of  his  party.  Since  he  was  known  as  the 
father  of  the  system  of  specie  payments  and  was 
called  a  ''gold  bug,"  the  blame  of  much  of  the  dis- 
tress was  laid  upon  his  shoulders.  He  was  now 
dubbed  ''Old  Humbug,"  and  lampooned  bitterly. 
All  sorts  of  imitation  money  were  issued  on  which 
the  rude  pictures  sought  principally  to  assail  the 
Democratic  party  and  Benton  in  particular.  Many 
of  these  were  sent  him  accompanied  by  insulting 
letters,  and  they  seem  to  have  moved  him  to  more 
or  less  anger  ;  but  he  never  for  a  moment  wavered 


<*OLD  BULLION  ^^  185 

in  his  belief  that  he  had  acted  properly  in  all  legis- 
lative matters,  laying  the  hard  times  at  the  door  of 
the  bank,  the  politicians  and,  in  some  measure,  to 
the  land  sui'plus  bill  which  he  had  bitterly  op- 
posed. 

Benton's  championship  of  cheap  lands  for  the 
settler  brought  him  into  conflict  constantly  with 
those  congressmen  who  opposed  the  motion  to  dis- 
tribute among  the  states  the  surplus  from  sales. 
Here  he  came  into  further  antagonism  with  Oay. 
The  elections  of  1836  were  approaching  and  the 
Whig  party  was  in  a  state  of  discouragement. 
Clay  was  not  a  candidate,  and  had  announced  that 
he  never  would  be  again,  which  was  a  useless  and 
untrue  declaration  since  he  thrice  more  was 
tempted.  The  compromise  tariff  of  1833  settled 
that  subject  for  the  present,  since  to  have  disturbed 
it  would  have  once  more  aroused  the  sleeping  lion 
in  Calhoun  and  the  nullifiers.  Internal  improve- 
ments had  been  abandoned  even  by  Clay.  The 
bank  charter  could  not  be  extended  except  under 
circumstances  which  seemed  unlikely  to  exist. 
The  Whigs  had  fixed  on  no  candidate,  which  was 
singular,  since  several  states  had  favorite  sons ;  but 
no  attempt  was  made  to  consolidate  in  favor  of  any 
one,  the  intention  being  to  await  the  result  of  the 


186  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

elections.  Clay  considered  that  lie  ought  to  per- 
form a  service  for  the  party,  and  at  the  same  time 
execute  a  long  cherished  plan.  The  sales  of  public 
lands  had  increased  so  rapidly  that  after  the  debt  was 
paid  the  surplus  promised  to  be  so  great  that  some- 
thing must  be  done  with  the  money.  Clay,  as  we 
have  seen,  secured  the  passage  in  1833  of  a  law  dis- 
tributing the  surplus  from  land  sales,  as  a  part  of 
his  tariff  compromise  scheme.  The  states  desired 
the  money  and  it  was  natural  they  should  consider 
that  it  belonged  to  them  since  it  was  an  asset  fast 
disappearing.  If  the  money  were  not  needed  by 
the  government  what  could  be  more  proper  than  to 
give  it  back  to  the  people  ? 

There  was  much  dissension  over  this  bill  and  its 
passage  was  delayed  until  nearly  the  last  hours  of 
the  session  of  1833.  Before  this  time  it  had  not 
been  customary  to  pass  such  important  measures  so 
near  the  end  of  the  session,  since  the  President  was 
accustomed  to  consider  them  well  and  seek  the  ad- 
vice of  his  cabinet.  Jackson  was  opposed  to  the 
measure  which  was  brought  to  him  in  the  room  at 
the  capitol  used  by  him  when  he  signed  appropria- 
tion bills  now  for  the  first  lime  delayed  in  passage. 
Benton  called  on  the  President  and  they  counseled 
together    over    the    bill.     The    matter    had    been 


*^OLD  BULLION  ^»  187 

threshed  out  so  thoroughly  in  Congress  that  that 
body  was  disposed  to  stand  by  its  action  as  Jack- 
son well  knew.  He  hesitated  to  veto  the  bill  at 
once  for  fear  it  would  be  passed  over  his  head.  He 
asked  Benton  to  look  over  the  Senate  and  see  how 
the  members  stood.  When  the  latter  returned  he 
advised  that  there  was  danger  for  which  reason 
Jackson  took  no  action  and  thus  the  bill  fell  by  the 
first  ^'pocket  veto"  in  our  history. 

At  the  next  session  Clay  in  high  dudgeon 
attacked  the  President  for  his  course,  and  Ben- 
ton as  usual  defended  Jackson,  pointing  out 
that  the  Constitution  evidently  intended  that 
the  President  should  have  ten  days  in  which 
to  consider  a  bill.  The  remedy  which  Con- 
gress had  at  hand,  he  said,  was  to  pass  the  bill  in 
time.  This  was  sound  sense  but  it  has  never  be- 
come a  fixed  principle  of  action  and  many  meas- 
ures have  suffered  the  same  fate  because  of  the  tend- 
ency to  delay  so  much  important  legislation  until 
the  closing  hours  of  the  session.  Clay  made  a  great 
speech  on  the  veto  and  its  abuses  in  which  he  paid 
his  compliments  to  Jackson  and  Benton  and  that 
was  all  that  came  of  the  incident. 

In  every  succeeding  session  some  such  plan  for 
the  distribution  of  the  surplus  was  proposed  but 


188  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

Benton  opposed  it  to  the  last.  In  1836  just  before 
the  presidential  election  Clay  came  to  the  front 
once  more  with  a  surplus  distribution  bill.  Origi- 
nally it  was  a  deliberate  proposal  for  disposing  of 
all  the  surplus  in  the  treasury  exceeding  five  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  which  was  considered  a  suf^cient 
working  capital.  In  spite  of  Benton's  resistance 
the  measure  passed  and  went  to  the  House  where 
it  met  with  unexpected  opposition.  There  were 
members  in  plenty  anxious  for  the  money,  but  it 
was  hard  for  many  of  them  to  convince  themselves 
that  the  payment  would  be  constitutional.  It  was 
in  derogation  of  so  much  they  had  striven  for  in 
the  past  that  a  majority  could  not  be  mustered  for 
the  bill.  At  this  juncture  a  measure  dealing  with 
the  regulation  of  the  public  moneys  in  the  state 
banks  was  being  discussed  in  Congress  and  some 
one  conceived  the  notion  that  the  two  might  be 
consolidated  in  a  way  that  would  salve  the  con- 
sciences of  the  strict  constructionists.  The  money 
as  received  was  deposited  in  the  state  banks  and 
now  it  was  proposed  that  the  surplus  be  ''  de- 
posited" with  the  states  according  to  their  Con- 
gressional representation.  On  its  face  this  meant 
that  the  Federal  government  might  call  for  the 
money  whenever  it  pleased.     As  a  matter  of  fact 


*'OLD  BULLION"  189 

no  such  call  was  ever  contemplated  even  by  those 
who  devised  the  trick  to  save  themselves  from  cen- 
sure. When  the  bill  in  this  shape  came  back  to 
the  Senate,  Benton  attacked  it  furiously.  He  seems 
to  have  been  the  one  sane  man  in  finance  in  this  entire 
period  and  he  explained  in  advance  exactly  what 
was  likely  to  happen.  But  the  spirit  of  cupidity 
had  been  aroused  and,  with  plausible  reasons  for 
every  one,  the  bill  passed,  Benton  mustering  in 
opposition  only  a  few  votes  besides  his  own. 
Jackson  signed  the  measure  and  this  is  said  to  have 
been  his  only  important  political  act  which  he 
afterward  regretted.  It  is  likely  the  bill  would 
have  been  passed  over  his  head  in  any  event  but 
that  consideration  probably  did  not  influence  Jack- 
son so  much  as  his  fear  that  a  veto  might  unfavor- 
ably affect  the  candidacy  of  Yan  Buren.  This  is 
one  of  the  occasions  when  he  did  not  consult 
Benton,  who  afterward  thought  that  the  President 
might  have  been  induced  to  veto  the  measure  if  he 
had  asked  the  advice  which  some  of  his  nearest 
friends  were  willing  to  give. 

The  money  was  to  be  paid  in  four  quarterly 
instalments.  The  first  was  paid  in  specie,  the 
second  with  difficulty  in  lawful  money,  the  third  in 
depreciated  bank  paper  and  the  foui-th  was  never 


190  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

paid  at  all ;  for  by  this  time  the  panic  had  come 
and  the  government  so  far  from  having  any  sur- 
plus faced  a  deficit.  Under  the  circumstances  one 
might  suppose  that  the  states  would  have  been 
satisfied  with  the  largess  of  $29,000,000,  but  on 
the  contrary,  and  in  spite  of  hard  times,  they  de- 
manded the  fourth  instalment  as  a  right,  making 
desperate  efforts  to  compel  its  payment  though 
without  success.  To  this  day  that  sum  stands  on 
the  books  of  the  Federal  government  against  the 
states  ;  legally  it  is  a  claim  but  it  is  of  course 
worthless. 

The  use  made  of  the  money  shows  how  absurd 
and  vicious  was  the  law  and  fully  confirmed  Ben- 
ton in  all  he  had  said.  Some  of  the  states  divided 
the  money  pro  rata  among  the  inhabitants,  which 
meant  nothing  more  or  less  than  putting  it  into 
immediate  circulation,  as  the  amount  per  capita 
was  very  small.  Others  gave  the  money  to  the 
counties  which  employed  it  more  or  less  extrava- 
gantly either  in  new  enterprises  or  in  reducing  tax- 
ation. Still  others  used  it  as  a  nucleus  of  an  immense 
fund  for  internal  improvements, — for  building 
railways,  canals  and  the  like,  most  of  which  were 
started  on  the  assumption  that  the  distribution  was 
to  continue  for  many  years.     When  the  collapse 


^^OLD  BULLION"  191 

came  some  of  the  states  found  themselves  with 
enormous  debts  and  no  resources.  Probably  there 
has  never  been  expended  in  this  country  a  similar 
sum  of  money  for  which  there  was  so  little  return. 
It  was  a  bad  principle  and  it  worked  ill  for  the 
reason  that  people  seldom  appreciate  what  comes 
to  them  too  easily.  Like  the  money  the  gambler 
wins,  it  is  soon  spent  and  often  most  unwisely. 

Benton  as  Chairman  of  the  Militarj^  Committee 
of  the  Senate  had  asked  that  this  large  sum  be  de- 
voted to  fortifications.  It  had  been  estimated  that 
one  hundred  millions  could  be  expended  in  this  man- 
ner with  worthy  results.  Benton  had  also  wished 
the  price  of  lands  reduced  to  the  settler  and 
brought  forward  for  the  first  time,  it  seems,*  a  home- 
stead law  by  which  any  man  or  woman  might 
obtain  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  the  public  do- 
main by  living  on  it  for  five  years  and  investing  a 
certain  amount  of  labor  and  money  in  the  improve- 
ment of  it.  This  was  so  wild  a  scheme  that,  with 
his  insistence  on  the  use  of  gold  for  currency,  his 
killing  of  the  bank,  his  attacks  upon  all  kinds  of 
paper  money  and  his  proposal  now  to  give  away 
land,  many  considered  Benton  a  fit  candidate  for  a 
lunatic  asylum.  Yet  every  one  of  these  things  in 
time  came  to  pass  and  it  may  be  said  truly  that  the 


192  THOMAS  H.  BEKTOX 

gift  of  public  lands  to  the  industrious  poor  of  this 
country  has  had  more  to  do  with  our  rapid  national 
development  than  any  other  single  policy  which 
has  been  adopted.  After  the  Civil  War  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  young  men  rushed  into  the  West  to 
take  up  the  new  lands  and  became  the  backbone  of 
that  section.  Benton  was  the  father  of  the  cheap 
land  system,  and  it  is  curious  that  Clay  almost 
invariably  opposed  him.  Clay  felt  that  it  was  bet- 
ter to  keep  up  the  price  and  distribute  the  surplus 
while  Benton  truly  believed  that  wealth  is  largest 
in  the  country  which  has  the  greatest  number  of 
prosperous  inhabitants. 

During  the  summer  of  1837  he  failed  to  make  his 
customary  tour  of  Missouri  on  the  stump  because 
his  aged  mother  was  very  ill  and  he  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  leave  her  bedside  ;  but  he  wrote  many 
long  letters  to  his  constituents  in  which  he  ex- 
plained his  position.  In  these  months  his  name 
was  suggested  in  various  parts  of  the  country  for 
the  presidency  or  the  vice- presidency  and  he  re- 
ceived many  invitations  to  complimentary  public 
dinners  at  Cincinnati,  Louisville  and  elsewhere. 
All  these  he  declined.  He  had  never  accepted  such 
kindnesses  but  once  or  twice  and  then  only  at  his 
home.     To  Tammany  Hall  which  offered  him  a 


^^OLD  BULLION'^  193 

dinner  and  suggested  the  vice-presidency  lie  wrote 
that  he  had  no  ambitions  in  either  direction  and 
that  he  favored  the  renomination  and  re-election  of 
Van  Buren/ 

He  was  shrewd  enough,  however,  to  see  that  the 
fortunes  of  his  party  were  waning.  When  Ten- 
nessee, against  the  warning  of  '^  Old  Hickory,^' 
gave  an  overwhelming  majority  to  the  Whig  ticket, 
almost  breaking  Jackson's  heart,  it  brought  home 
to  Benton  a  consciousness  that  the  administration, 
even  if  as  able  and  pure  as  he  believed,  was  not 
likely  to  retain  a  hold  on  the  people  until  the  resto- 
ration of  prosperity.  This  would  return  slowly. 
Although  the  Eastern  banks  as  a  rule  resumed 
specie  payments  within  a  year,  the  disturbance  of 
business  had  been  so  great  that  the  country  at 
large,  which  continued  to  hurl  anathemas  at  Yan 
Buren,  recovered  very  gradually.  It  was  solemnly 
charged  that  hemstitched  linen  dish-cloths  were 
used  at  the  White  House  in  a  time  of  great  public 
distress.  Van  Buren  failed  to  get  his  second  term  ; 
the  prize  which  Clay  had  so  dearly  longed  for  was 
snatched  from  him  by  a  parliamentary  trick  at  the 
Whig  Convention,  and  Harrison  was  nominated  and 
triumphantly  elected. 

*  Niles'  Register. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  OREGON   QUESTION 

There  was  much  of  interest  during  the  ad- 
ministration of  Tyler,  who  followed  Harrison  in  the 
White  House  upon  the  President's  early  death,  in 
which  Benton  bore  a  conspicuous  part.  Webster 
who  had  remained  in  the  cabinet  to  complete  the 
treaty  with  Lord  Ashburton  for  the  adjustment  of 
several  accumulated  differences  with  Great  Britain, 
and  was  unceremoniously  relieved  of  his  place  as 
soon  as  he  had  performed  that  task,  was  striving  to 
adjust  all  the  various  unsettled  difficulties  between 
the  two  governments.  When  Lord  Ashburton  came 
to  this  country  on  a  special  mission  it  was  felt  that 
no  one  except  Webster  was  equal  to  the  work  in  hand 
but,  according  to  the  view  of  Benton,  the  Massa- 
chusetts statesman  was  clay  in  the  potter's  hand. 

We  had  several  grievances  and  Great  Britain  only 
one.  The  Canadian  boundary  along  the  Maine 
frontier,  according  to  the  British  view,  should  be  set 
back  to  give  a  tolerably  direct  road  to  Halifax. 
With  that  fine  disregard  of  geography  with  which 
treaties  dealing  with  unknown  territory  are  made, 


THE  OEEGOA^  QUESTION  195 

it  so  happened  that  we  gained  more  by  the  actual 
survey  than  was  expected  and  really  more  than 
was  just  to  Canada.     Our  strategic  position,  how- 
ever, was  excellent  and  a  wiser  diplomatist  than 
Webster  would  have  used  this  advantage  in  trade. 
For  instance,  we  desired  a  definition  of  the  Oregon 
boundary  line  but  Great  Britain  refused  to  take 
the  matter  up  at  the  time,  preferring  to  trust  to 
some  accident  in  the  future.     This  was  a  mistake 
which  Benton  perceived.     Although   he  was  not 
one  of  the  extremists,  he  was  enough  of  a  public 
man  to  know  that  this  was  the  time  for  a  settlement 
of  a  question  which  was  to  be  entirely  omitted  from 
the    treaty.     We    had   a  quarrel   induced    by  an 
attack   upon   our  sovereignty  during  the  Fenian 
troubles  in  Canada,  culminating   in   the  affair  in 
which    the    Caroline    was    seized,    fired    and    set 
adrift  to  sweep  over  Magara  Falls.     This  question 
Great    Britain    refused    to    consider.     We  had  a 
claim,  which  was  small  in  Webster's  eyes,  for  the 
value  of  slaves  shipwrecked  on  British  islands  and 
set  free.     Benton  resented  this  view,  maintaining 
that  they  should  not  have  been  liberated  ;  they  did 
not  reach  free  soil  in  any  normal  way.     He  saw  that 
if  such  a  precedent  were  established  there  would 
be  much  irritation  between  the  two  countries  over 


196  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

the  slavery  question,  in  which  view  he  was  entirely 
correct.  This  subject  was  omitted  from  the  treaty. 
Great  Britain  had  never  formally  agreed  that  she 
would  not  impress  our  seamen  and  although  the 
grievance  was  an  old  one,  Benton  thought  it  should 
be  settled  at  once  to  avoid  disagreements  in  the 
future.  This  was  not  done.  Indeed,  all  that  was 
accomplished,  outside  of  the  rectification  of  the 
Canadian  frontier,  was  the  establishment  of  an  ex- 
tradition system  and  an  agreement  to  participate 
in  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  Benton  should  object 
particularly  to  the  last  provision,  seeing  that  he 
considered  the  slave  trade  odious.  He  took  the 
position  that,  under  the  circumstances,  since  we 
had  received  nothing  in  the  treaty  from  Great 
Britain,  we  should  not  have  agreed  to  a  clause 
to  carry  out  which  would  cost  us  millions.  He 
thought  Great  Britain  was  not  the  country  to  grow 
suddenly  virtuous  on  the  slavery  question,  since 
her  earlier  career  had  been  one  in  defense  of  the 
institution.  She  had  fastened  the  evil  upon  this 
country  in  spite  of  many  early  efforts  to  get  rid  of 
it.  In  this  position  Benton  does  not  appear  to 
very  great  advantage.  Of  course  it  was  a  part  of 
his  general  plan  to  prevent  agitation.     He  foresaw 


THE  OEEGON  QUESTI0:N^  197 

that  the  agreement  would  lead  to  friction  but  in 
this  case  his  wisdom  was  open  to  question,  since 
the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  had  become  an 
absolute  necessity  owing  to  the  boldness  of  the 
slavers  who  had  no  hesitancy  in  running  cargoes 
into  Cuba  and  even  into  this  country  by  con- 
nivance with  public  officials. 

Financial  affairs  also  attracted  much  of  Benton^  s 
attention,  for  the  government  was  again  running 
behind  in  its  receipts.  It  was  difficult  to  borrow 
money  on  easy  terms  and  resort  was  had  to 
treasury  notes.  Benton  was  the  watch-dog  of  the 
treasury  in  those  days  though  he  seems  to  have 
had  the  usual  experience  of  such  self- constituted 
officials,  achieving  only  moderate  success.  The 
establishment  in  all  respects  was  small  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  modern  times  yet  some  ex- 
penditures seemed  to  Benton  extravagant  and  he 
never  ceased  to  decry  appropriations  when  he 
thought  them  useless.  As  we  have  seen  he  desired 
the  JS'avy  reduced  in  size  and  the  West  Point 
Academy  abolished.  When  the  telegraph  was  in- 
vented it  seemed  to  him  that  in  conjunction  with 
the  railroad  the  art  of  defense  would  be  so  perfect 
that  we  could  do  very  well  with  a  small  army  and 
almost  no  navy. 


198  THOMAS  H.  BEXTO:^^ 

When  a  train  could  reach  the  seacoast  from  St. 
Louis  in  sixty  hours,  he  thought  that  such  rapid 
disposition  of  forces  made  it  unnecessary  to  have  a 
large  army,  as  he  considered  mobility  superior  to 
numbers.  In  a  sense  this  view  was  correct  but  the 
Civil  War  demonstrated  the  weakness  of  the  theory. 

One  of  the  minor  subjects  of  expense  which  he 
attacked  was  the  coast  survey.  He  thought 
this  work  should  be  undertaken  by  the  of&cers 
of  the  Kavy,  instead  of  by  a  body  of  salaried 
men  in  civil  life  who  seemed  to  him  to  be  pro- 
tracting the  task  unnecessarily.  Here  again  Ben- 
ton erred.  The  task  is  not  yet  completed,  although 
the  services  of  the  men  engaged  in  the  work  have 
been  notable. 

Benton  never  had  much  appreciation  of  a  large 
diplomatic  service  and  though  his  eyes  were  con- 
stantly fixed  on  the  Far  East,  he  had  his  own  ideas 
as  to  the  methods  to  be  employed  if  commerce  were 
to  be  secured  with  that  part  of  the  world.  When 
Caleb  Gushing  was  sent  as  special  envoy  to  the  Em- 
peror of  China  and  negotiated  a  treaty  under  most 
extraordinary  circumstances,  amounting  almost  to 
duress,  Benton  did  not  hesitate  to  attack  him  bit- 
terly. He  alleged  that  much  more  could  have  been 
achieved  if  greater  courtesy  and  tact  had  been  em- 


THE  OEEGON  QUESTION  199 

ployed,  in  which  view  he  was  probably  correct,  as 
a  train  of  troubles  followed  the  first  treaty,  the 
scars  from  which  have  never  yet  been  healed ; 
but  he  made  more  of  the  alleged  derelictions  of 
Gushing  than  now  seem  to  have  been  justified. 
Benton's  principal  fault  was  that  he  could  not  easily 
be  moderate  in  his  denunciation  of  what  he  consid- 
ered wrong  and  when  his  anger  fell  upon  an  indi- 
vidual whom  he  felt  had  in  any  way  violated 
national  honor,  the  force  of  his  displeasure  was  ter- 
rible in  its  expression.  His  temper  was  shown 
during  many  of  the  debates  when  he  appeared  as 
the  champion  of  Tyler,  the  renegade  Whig  whom 
the  real  Whig  leaders  assailed  vigorously. 

When  the  second  tariff  veto  message  reached  the 
Senate  in  1842,  the  floor  and  galleries  were  crowded. 
On  conclusion  of  the  reading  a  storm  of  hisses 
broke  forth  followed  by  applause.  This  was  an 
unusual  breach  of  the  decorum  of  the  Senate  and 
Benton  vehemently  condemned  the  outrage.  Of 
course  he  was  delighted  with  the  veto  but  he  would 
have  been  as  ready  to  attack  his  own  friends  as  his 
enemies  for  hissing.  He  immediately  called  the  at- 
tention of  the  chair  to  the  situation  and  the  presi- 
dent pro  tern,  rapped  for  order.  This  did  not  satisfy 
Benton,  as  he  thought  the  raps  should  be  on  the 


200  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

offenders'  heads  and  not  on  the  table.  In  an  im- 
passioned speech  he  demanded  that  the  ruffians  who 
had  hissed  and  whom  he  accused  of  being  friends 
of  the  old  bank  should  be  brought  before  the  bar 
of  the  Senate.  For  the  moment  this  incident 
eclipsed  the  veto  message  in  interest  as  several 
senators  interposed,  saying  they  had  not  heard  the 
hisses  and  thought  Mr.  Benton  was  mistaken. 
That  gentleman  became  aroused  and  made  another 
fiery  onslaught  on  his  foes,  alleging  that  he  had  dis- 
tinctly heard  them  and  that  such  conduct  was  an 
outrage  on  the  President  as  well  as  the  Senate. 

It  would  appear  from  the  testimony  of  other 
senators  who  were  present  that  the  hisses  could  not 
have  been  very  loud  or  long  and  that  Benton  was 
probably  unduly  alert  on  this  occasion.  His  mo- 
tion to  have  the  offender  brought  to  the  bar  of  the 
Senate  was  resisted  and  Buchanan  undertook  the 
role  of  peacemaker.  He  had  heard  a  slight  hiss 
but  thought  the  matter  a  trifling  one  and  felt  cer- 
tain that  Benton  would  withdraw  his  motion, 
whereupon  that  Senator  cried  out :  '^  I  never  will, 
so  help  me  God." 

The  discussion  was  prolonged  for  some  time  and 
finally  the  man  was  discovered  by  the  sergeant -at- 
arms  and  brought  to  the  bar  where  he  apologized 


THE  OEEGON  QUESTION  201 

and  Benton,  considering  that  the  dignity  of  the 
Senate  had  been  restored,  permitted  him  to  go. 

The  incident  may  be  considered  a  not  very  im- 
portant one  but  it  is  interesting  as  showing  the 
manner  in  which  Benton  believed  public  business 
should  be  conducted.  He  had  been  the  object  of  an 
assault  on  a  somewhat  similar  occasion  a  few  years 
before  when  the  expunging  resolution  was  passed 
and  he  was  determined  to  put  an  end  to  it. 

Benton's  earthly  career  was  almost  ended  by  the 
explosion  of  the  gun  Peacemaker  on  board  the 
U.  S.  S.  Princeton.  The  trip  of  this  vessel  down 
the  Potomac  in  February,  1844,  was  a  gala  event. 
President  Tyler  was  on  board  with  Miss  Gardiner, 
whom  he  was  soon  to  marry,  and  most  of  the 
members  of  his  cabinet  as  well  as  many  dis- 
tinguished visitors  were  in  the  party.  One  of 
the  events  of  the  day  was  the  firing  of  the  great 
cannon  that  was  so  inappropriately  named.  There 
was  some  flaw  in  its  construction  or  the  charge  was 
too  heavy,  and  after  a  number  of  shots  had  been 
fired  the  gun  burst,  killing  two  members  of  the 
cabinet,  one  of  the  naval  officers,  and  Mr.  Gar- 
diner, the  President's  prospective  father-in-law. 

Benton  took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  the  jour- 
ney and  as  the  table  had  no  pleasures  for  him,  he 


202  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

busied  himself  in  examining  every  feature  of  the 
boat  and  the  gun.  Undoubtedly  he  would  have 
been  among  the  slain  had  not  one  of  the  of&cers, 
knowing  his  interest  in  the  subject,  said  to  him  that 
he  could  get  a  much  better  view  if  he  would  mount 
a  gun  carriage  directly  behind  the  Peacemaker  and 
thus  watch  the  course  of  the  ball.  This  he  did  and 
was  saved,  though  for  a  moment  it  was  supposed 
that  he  was  numbered  among  the  victims.  His  own 
description  of  his  experience  at  that  moment,  though 
cumbersomely  written,  is  graphic.     He  says  : 

' '  I  saw  the  hammer  pull  back,  heard  a  tap,  saw 
a  flash,  felt  a  blast  in  the  face,  knew  that  my  hat 
was  gone;  and  that  was  the  last  I  knew  of  the 
world,  or  myself,  for  a  time,  of  which  I  can  give 
no  account.  The  first  that  I  knew  of  myself,  or 
anything  afterward,  was  rising  up  at  the  breach  of 
the  gun,  seeing  the  gun  itself  split  open — two  sea- 
men, the  blood  oozing  from  their  ears  and  nostrils, 
rising  and  reeling  near  me — Commodore  Stockton, 
hat  gone  and  face  blackened,  standing  bolt  upright, 
staring  fixedly  upon  the  shattered  gun.  I  heard  no 
noise — no  more  than  the  dead.  I  only  knew  that 
the  gun  had  burst  from  seeing  its  fragments.  I 
felt  no  injury,  and  put  my  arm  under  the  head  of  a 
seaman,  endeavoring  to  rise  and  falling  back.     By 


THE  OEEGON  QUESTI0:N^  203 

that  time  friends  had  run  up  and  led  me  to  the 
bow — telling  me  afterward  that  there  was  a  super- 
natural whiteness  in  my  face  and  hands — all  the 
blood  in  fact  having  been  driven  from  the  sur- 
face. 

For  myself  I  had  gone  through  the  experience  of 
sudden  death,  as  if  from  lightning,  which  extin- 
guishes knowledge  and  sensation  and  takes  one  out 
of  the  world  without  thought  or  feeling.  I  think 
I  know  what  it  is  to  die  without  knowing  it — and 
that  such  a  death  is  nothing  to  him  that  revives. 
The  rapid  and  lucid  workings  of  the  mind  to  the 
instant  of  extinction,  is  the  marvel  that  still  as- 
tonishes me.  I  heard  the  tap,  saw  the  flash,  felt 
the  blast,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  explosion.  I 
was  cut  off  in  that  inappreciable  point  of  time 
which  intervenes  between  the  flash  and  the  fire — 
between  the  burning  of  the  powder  in  the  touch- 
hole,  and  the  burning  of  it  in  the  gun.  No  mind 
can  seize  that  point  of  time — no  thought  can  meas- 
ure it ;  yet  to  me  it  was  distinctly  marked,  divided 
life  from  death — the  life  that  sees,  and  feels,  and 
knows — from  death  (for  such  it  was  for  the  time) 
which  annihilates  self  and  the  world.  And  now  is 
credible  to  me,  or  rather  comprehensible,  what  per- 
sons have  told  me  of  a  rapid  and  clear  working  of 


204  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

the  mind  in  sudden  and  dreadful  catastrophies — as 
in  steamboat  explosions  and  being  blown  into  the 
air  and  have  the  events  of  their  lives  pass  in  review 
before  them,  and  even  speculate  on  the  chances  of 
falling  on  the  deck,  and  being  crushed,  or  falling 
on  the  water  and  swimming  ;  and  persons  recovered 
from  drowning,  and  running  their  whole  lives  over 
in  the  interval  between  losing  hope  and  losing 
consciousness." 

This  tragic  event  had  a  very  considerable  effect 
on  politics,  as  the  two  cabinet  vacancies  were  filled 
by  men  who  up  to  this  time  had  not  been  con- 
sidered for  the  posts,  one  of  them  being  Cal- 
houn. 

When  the  Presidential  election  was  coming  on 
Tyler's  enemies  were  determined  that  his  am- 
bition to  succeed  himself  should  not  be  gratified. 
Calhoun  perceiving  that  he  could  not  be  nomi- 
nated if  the  convention  were  held  in  December,  as 
was  expected,  manoeuvred  so  that  it  was  postponed 
until  the  spring  of  1844.  The  ^\^ligs  were  induced 
to  take  the  same  course.  Van  Buren  was  the  can- 
didate of  a  large  majority  of  the  Democrats,  and, 
if  instructions  had  been  followed  would  have  been 
nominated,  but  the  two-thirds  rule  was  adopted 
and  after  having  disposed  of  all  the  candidates, 


THE  OEEGON  QUESTION  205 

one  by  one  (Calhouu  having  withdrawn  before  this 
time),  James K.  Polk,  the  first  ''dark  horse "  in  the 
history  of  the  presidency,  was  nominated.  Great 
was  the  grief  of  the  old  stalwart  Democrats,  but  as 
Polk  could  not  be  accounted  a  party  to  the  affair, 
he  was  absolved  from  blame. 

Although  the  Oregon  boundary  was  omitted  from 
the  Ashburton  treaty,  the  subject  was  kept  alive 
by  an  exchange  of  notes.  Calhoun  had  agreed  to 
extend  the  line  along  the  forty-ninth  parallel  to 
the  Pacific,  expecting  the  proposal  to  be  accepted  ; 
but  when  the  British  desired  the  Columbia  Eiver, 
he  withdrew  the  offer.  During  the  campaign  of 
1844  the  country  was  in  a  state  of  wild  excitement 
over  this  northwestern  boundary  question.  The 
Democratic  convention  had  announced  that  the 
latitude  fifty -four  degrees  and  forty  minutes  was 
the  very  lowest  we  would  take  and  throughout  the 
campaign  the  party  slogan  was  ''Fifty-four  Forty 
or  Fight."  It  was  senseless,  as  such  campaign 
cries  are  likely  to  be,  for  of  those  who  prepared 
the  party  platform  or  raised  the  cry,  not  one 
had  any  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject. 
It  was  a  species  of  jingoism  and  at  that  time  it  was 
always  safe  for  a  party  leader  to  rouse  the  people's 
passions  against  Great  Britain  by  talking  of  real 


206  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

or  fancied  wrongs.  The  country  was  unduly  excited 
over  the  subject  and  the  prospects  of  war  were  by 
no  means  remote. 

President  Polk  in  his  inaugural  address  took 
strong  ground  and  in  his  first  message  announced 
that  "fifty -four  forty''  was  our  line  and  must  be 
maintained.  As  the  subject  was  then  under  nego- 
tiation this  was  not  a  diplomatic  announcement. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  Polk  was  preparing  for  the 
Mexican  War  and  did  not  desire  a  difficulty  with 
Great  Britain  at  the  same  time.  The  more  he 
looked  into  the  subject  the  more  convinced  he  was 
that  his  own  protestations  and  those  of  his  party  in 
favor  of  '^fifty-four  forty"  had  not  a  leg  to  stand 
on,  but  he  was  not  disposed  publicly  to  admit  his 
mistake.  There  was  one  man  in  public  life  at  this 
time  who  was  not  afraid  to  say  what  he  thought 
and  that  man  was  Thomas  H.  Benton.  He  urged  the 
President  not  to  persist  in  a  course  which  certainly 
meant  war  and  to  take  a  position  which  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  could  not  be  maintained.  For 
twenty-five  years  Benton  had  studied  the  Oregon 
question.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he  succeeded 
in  saving  that  country  to  the  Union  when  many 
wished  to  let  it  go.  There  was  no  living  man  who 
knew  so  much  about  the  subject  and  it  was  natural 


THE  OREGON  QUESTION  207 

that  the  President  should  turn  to  Benton  though 
they  were  not  then  on  intimate  terms. 

Now  developed  one  of  the  most  curious  of  polit- 
ical situations.     Benton  stood  up  manfully  and  de- 
nounced the  extremists.     He  said  the  claim  could 
not  be  sustained.     At  this  statement  the  press  all 
over  the  United  States  again  became  furious  against 
him.     Probably  no  man  in  history  has  been  more 
vilified  than  he  was  at  this  time.     He  was  called 
a  coward,  a  renegade,  a  friend  of  Great  Britain, 
and  all  sorts  of  insinuations  were  leveled  against 
him,  except  that  he  had  any  personal  interest  in 
the  matter  or  was  guided  by  financial  or  other 
base    considerations.      That    charge     was     never 
brought  so  far  as  can  be  discovered,  and  if  made 
it  would  have  been  palpably  untrue.     But  the  flood- 
gates of  malice  were  turned  loose  against  him  and 
a    common  thief  could  not  have  been  so  much 
abused.     During  all  this  storm  Benton  stood  firm. 
It  must  have  wounded   his  vanity  but  he  never 
changed  his  course.     There  were  a  few  Democratic 
senators  willing  to  express  an  opinion  of  the  same 
sort,  but  there  was  another  coterie  of  irreconcilables 
who  continued  to  sympathize  with  the  President 
and  justify  his  extreme  position. 
Polk  was  now  in  the  attitude  of  the  man  in  the 


208  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0K 

embrace  of  a  bear  who  wanted  some  one  to  help 
him  let  go  of  the  brute.  In  this  dilemma  he  again 
sent  for  Benton  and  asked  his  aid.  Benton  told 
him  frankly  that  he  should  accept  the  offer  of  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  which  Great  Britain  had  just 
made.  To  do  anything  else  would  make  war  inev- 
itable ;  moreover  the  line  was  the  only  proper  one. 
Polk  asked  Benton  to  see  what  the  Whigs  would  do. 
Perhaps  this  was  the  first  time  in  our  history  that  the 
opposition  was  canvassed  with  a  view  to  enlisting 
it  on  the  side  of  the  administration.  Benton  said 
that  he  believed  he  could  secure  enough  senators  to 
ratify  the  treaty,  and  in  fact  he  did  so  after  making 
a  speech  so  logical  and  so  full  of  information  that 
no  man  who  had  not  ulterior  motives  could  resist 
its  appeal. 

Another  difficulty  had  arisen.  Polk,  feeling  that 
he  was  committed  on  the  other  side  and  that  he 
could  not  afford  to  do  what  he  should  because  of 
political  considerations,  was  in  a  quandary  when 
Benton  proposed  that  he  adopt  the  constitutional 
method  of  asking  the  advice  of  the  Senate  on  the 
subject.  This  would  break  the  fall.  Polk  did  so 
and  thereupon  his  organ,  the  Union,  attacked  Benton 
bitterly  day  after  day,  at  the  very  time  that  he  was 
trying   to   carry  out   the   President's  wishes.     A 


THE  OEEGON  QUESTION  209 

smaller  man  would  not  have  submitted  to  such 
treatment,  but  Benton  sought  results  and  did  not 
care  for  methods.  He  desired  a  peaceful  and  hon- 
orable settlement  and  by  means  of  his  great  influ- 
ence over  the  Whigs  and  those  Democrats  in  the 
Senate  who  were  tractable,  in  1846  the  treaty  was 
confirmed. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  at  this  day  to  appreciate  how 
much  moral  courage  was  required  of  Benton  in  this 
matter.  Partisanship  is  less  intense  now  than  at 
that  time,  and  a  change  of  party  affiliation  more 
readily  condoned.  No  man  but  Benton  could  have 
withstood  the  wrath  of  the  public  and  the  opinion 
of  no  other  man  that  the  treaty  was  just  could  have 
been  made  to  prevail. 

Benton's  interest  in  Oregon  had  now  become  per- 
sonal in  a  peculiar  sense.  There  was  in  the  regular 
army  at  this  time  a  dashing  young  lieutenant,  a 
topographical  engineer,  named  John  C.  Fremont. 
As  Benton  had  four  beautiful  daughters  and  Miss 
Jessie  was  the  acknowledged  belle  of  Washington, 
it  was  natural  that  Fremont  should  be  a  visitor  at 
the  house,  where  he  soon  became  more  than  a  cas- 
ual friend.  If  Benton  had  known  that  the  young 
man  was  laying  siege  to  the  heart  of  his  daughter, 
it  is  certain  Fremont  would  have  been  ordered  to 


210  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

the  most  distant  post  in  the  land.  He  liked  Fre- 
mont, for  the  young  officer  had  made  a  trip  to 
Oregon  with  an  exploring  party  and  had  brought 
back  an  immense  amount  of  information  concern- 
ing the  country.  He  was  meditating  a  second, 
which  had  been  authorized  by  the  War  Department 
engineers.  Naturally  Benton  desired  to  learn  much 
from  the  young  man  and  it  soon  became  a  case  of 
Othello,  Desdemona  and  Brabantio.  Miss  Jessie 
well  knew  that  her  father  would  never  consent  to 
her  marriage  to  a  poor  lieutenant,  so  the  young 
couple  eloped.  Terrible  was  the  wrath  of  Benton, 
as  his  daughter  had  suspected.  At  first  he  threat- 
ened all  sorts  of  punishment  but  when  his  rage  had 
cooled,  his  daughter  managed,  as  pretty  and  intelli- 
gent girls  usually  will,  to  overcome  his  opposition 
and  peace  was  restored  in  the  family,  though  Ben- 
ton was  long  in  forgiving  Fremont  and  perhaps 
would  not  have  done  so  at  all  had  the  latter  not 
been  made  the  subject  of  persecution. 

Fremont  now  hurried  off  on  his  second  expedi- 
tion for  he  learned  there  was  some  likelihood  that 
it  would  be  postponed.  He  had  only  twenty-five 
men  and  with  these  he  hastened  to  a  post  in  west- 
ern Missouri,  leaving  his  wife  at  her  father's  home 
in  St.  Louis.     Fremont's  suspicions  were  correct. 


THE  OKEGON  QUESTION  211 

When  the  War  Department  found  that  he  had 
requisitioned  a  mountain  howitzer,  it  became 
alarmed,  fearing  that  the  expedition  would  lead  to 
unfortunate  consequences  as  it  looked  to  be  military 
rather  than  scientific.  Orders  were  at  once  de- 
spatched for  his  recall  and  he  was  charged  person- 
ally with  the  cannon  he  had  taken.  The  mail  was 
forwarded  to  St.  Louis,  where  the  young  and  am- 
bitious wife  took  the  precaution  to  open  it  and  dis- 
creetly kept  the  letter  of  recall.  Thus  Fremont  got 
away.  This  time  his  explorations  were  of  more 
notable  value.  On  his  return  he  was  complimented 
and  brevetted,  and  soon  prepared  for  a  third  expe- 
dition which  had  more  serious  consequences. 

Senator  Benton  upheld  his  daughter  Jessie  in  all 
she  had  done  in  this  matter,  though  she  was  wise 
enough  not  to  tell  him  until  the  young  man  was 
well  out  of  his  reach.  ^ 

*  See  Jessie  Benton  Fremont's  sketeh  of  her  father's  life. 


CHAPTEE  X 

SLAVERY  AGITATION  AND  TEXAS 

During  Jackson's  administrations  the  subject  of 
slavery  had  been  injected  prominently  into  the 
Senate.  As  Benton  frequently  had  occasion  to 
remark,  he  was  opposed  equally  to  slavery  agita- 
tion and  slavery  extension.  He  wished  that  things 
should  be  left  as  they  were  and  on  all  occasions 
tried  to  smother  discussion  of  a  subject  which  was 
becoming  more  and  more  important  every  day, 
because  of  the  acts  of  men  both  North  and  South. 
The  pioneer  anti-slavery  society  in  the  country 
was  composed  of  Friends  who  were  accustomed  to 
meet  yearly,  passing  resolutions  and  occasionally 
petitioning  Congress  on  the  subject.  Usually  their 
petitions  were  received  and  laid  on  the  table  with- 
out further  action  ;  but  in  Jackson's  second  term 
both  House  and  Senate  were  besieged  by  petitions 
not  only  from  Friends  and  other  organized  societies 
but  from  hosts  of  individuals,  all  bearing  upon  one 
or  another  phase  of  the  slavery  question.  These 
rapidly  increased  in  number  after  the  nullification 


SLAVERY  AGITATION  AND  TEXAS   213 

threats  of  Calhoun  and  his  coterie.  If  the  North 
thought  that  slavery  was  the  cause  of  all  the 
trouble,  so  did  the  South.  The  question  at  issue 
was  whether  more  concessions  should  be  made  to 
the  slave-power  or  whether  the  evil  should  be  re- 
stricted wherever  possible.  The  agitation  which 
was  started  at  this  time,  lasted  for  thirty  years  and 
resulted  in  the  emancipation  of  the  slave  under 
most  extraordinary  circumstances.  Nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that  manumission  would  have 
been  delayed  for  a  long  time,  in  the  end  probably 
being  gradual,  had  not  the  ill-advised  friends  of 
slavery  forced  the  issue  at  a  time  that  they  thought 
they  were  smothering  it.  The  Abolitionists  were 
just  as  radical  and  thus  a  crisis  was  reached. 

The  postmaster-general  having  refused  without 
warrant  to  carry  through  the  mails  certain  news- 
papers containing  diatribes  against  slavery  which 
were  declared  to  be  'incendiary,"  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced making  it  a  penalty  for  any  postmaster  or 
other  Federal  employee  to  forward  such  matter. 
This  was  a  setting  up  of  a  public  censorship  that 
would  have  led  to  serious  results.  The  bill  was 
warmly  endorsed  by  Calhoun  who  made  speeches 
on  the  subject,  in  which  he  returned  to  his  favorite 
topic  of  nullification  and  his  prophecy  as  to  the 


214  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

breaking  up  of  the  republic  unless  the  South 
could  have  its  own  way  in  the  matter. 

One  cannot  but  have  a  certain  amount  of  sym- 
pathy for  Calhoun  who  felt  so  deeply  on  this  sub- 
ject and  was  doubtless  as  sincere  as  he  was  able. 
As  a  study  in  political  pessimism  his  character  is 
without  an  equal  in  our  day.  One  trouble  with 
him  was  that  he  assumed  to  speak  for  the  whole 
South  and  all  the  slave-owners,  whereas  at  this  time 
he  represented  only  a  faction.  If  Calhoun  could 
have  kept  silent,  the  bill  might  have  passed  ;  but  as 
he  must  renew  his  threats  against  the  Union,  there 
were  those  who  would  not  follow  him  a  step.  Even 
Clay  was  dissatisfied  with  his  own  part  in  the 
previous  compromise  whereby  South  Carolina  had 
been  conciliated  by  a  reduction  of  the  tariff.  Web- 
ster who  had  opposed  the  compromise  and  Benton 
who  had  also  vigorously  fought  it,  saw  in  Calhoun's 
conduct  a  justification  for  their  action.  They 
knew  that  he  would  never  be  satisfied  and  they  did 
not  intend  to  try  to  pacify  him  any  further. 

Benton  deprecated  the  extreme  views  and  meas- 
ures of  the  Abolitionists  and  in  many  instances 
gave  them  much  less  credit  than  they  deserved. 
His  sympathies  were  with  the  slaveholders,  in 
peaceful  possession  of  their  legal  rights,  but  he 


SLAVERY  AGITATION  AND  TEXAS  215 

may  have  been  biased  too  much  in  their  favor. 
One  thing  is  certain  :  he  altogether  failed  to  see 
how  impossible  it  was  to  suppress  slavery  agitation. 
He  was  continually  crying  peace,  but  there  was  no 
peace  since  in  the  controversy  both  sides  were  de- 
termined upon  a  war  of  extermination.  In  the 
postal  censorship  debate  he  had  an  angry  colloquy 
with  Calhoun  in  which  the  latter  was  censured  for 
conjuring  up  ghosts  to  frighten  the  people.  As  to 
Calhoun's  report  on  the  bill  Benton  makes  this 
comment,  written  many  years  afterward, — indeed 
after  the  last  great  compromise  of  1850  had  been 
effected  : 

*^The  insidiousness  of  this  report  was  in  the  as- 
sumption of  an  actual  impending  danger  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  all  the  slave  states ;  the 
destruction  of  $950,000,000  of  property  ;  the  ocean 
of  blood  to  be  shed  ;  the  war  of  extermination  be- 
tween the  two  races  and  the  necessity  for  extraor- 
dinary means  to  prevent  these  dire  calamities; 
when  the  fact  was,  that  there  was  not  one  particle 
of  any  such  danger.  The  assumption  was  contrary 
to  fact ;  the  report  was  inflammatory  and  disorgan- 
izing ;  and  if  there  was  anything  enigmatical  in  its 
conclusions  it  was  sufficiently  interpreted  in  the 
contemporaneous  publications  in  the  Southern  slave 


216  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

States  which  were  open  in  their  declarations  that  a 
cause  for  separation  had  occurred,  limited  only  by 
the  conduct  of  the  free  states  in  suppressing  within 
a  given  time  the  incendiary  societies  within  their 
borders.  This  limitation  would  throw  the  respon- 
sibility of  disunion  upon  the  non-slaveholding 
states  failing  to  suppress  these  societies." 

Fortunately  there  were  other  Southern  men  be- 
sides Benton  who  opposed  Calhoun,  among  them 
Henry  Clay,  King  of  Georgia,  and  Leigh  of  Vir- 
ginia. The  bill  was  confused  with  the  petition  of 
the  Friends  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  and  the  debates  which  ensued 
covered  the  whole  ground. 

When  it  came  to  a  vote  on  the  bill  Calhoun  and 
his  party  saw  that  they  were  beaten,  but  they  re- 
solved to  prolong  the  contest.  Van  Buren,  the 
Vice-president  who  was  slated  for  the  Democratic 
nomination  to  succeed  Jackson,  was  singled  out  for 
attack.  By  leaving  the  Senate  in  precisely  the  re- 
quired numbers  at  various  times  while  the  debate 
was  in  progress,  it  was  necessary  for  Van  Buren 
to  cast  the  deciding  vote.  When  it  came  to  the 
vote  on  engrossment  the  Vice-president  was  not 
in  his  seat,  having  retired  behind  the  chair.  Cal- 
houn was  angry  when  he  saw  the  chair  empty  and 


SLAVEEY  AGITATION  A:N^D  TEXAS  217 

in  a  voice  betraying  his  agitation,  he  cried  out  that 
the  sergeant-at-arms  must  seek  the  Vice-president 
and  bring  him  to  the  Senate.  This  was  a  petty 
performance,  utterly  unworthy  of  the  man  or  the 
occasion.  Van  Buren,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
imperturbable  of  statesmen,  calmly  came  forward 
and  gave  his  casting  vote  for  the  engrossment. 
Calhoun  hoped  that  this  act  would  hurt  Van  Buren 
in  the  North,  but  it  did  not  in  the  least. 

Benton  had  wearied  of  Calhoun's  conduct  and 
never  ceased  to  inveigh  against  it,  but  he  still  in- 
sisted that  there  was  no  danger  of  serious  sectional 
dispute.  When  the  time  came  he  was  one  of  the 
sturdiest  opponents  of  further  compromise,  but 
again  he  was  outvoted  by  the  radicals  on  both  sides 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  who  thought  they  knew 
so  much  better  than  he  what  was  for  the  common- 
weal. 

One  reason  that  led  Benton  to  believe  there  was 
no  desire  on  the  part  of  the  North  or  the  South  to 
interfere  with  the  rights  of  slaveholders  was  that 
at  this  very  session  (1836-7)  he  had  succeeded  in 
having  the  limits  of  the  state  of  Missouri  extended 
at  the  extreme  northwest  so  as  to  include  a  strip  of 
very  desirable  land  between  the  Missouri  Eiver 
and   the  former  boundary, — an  alteration  of  that 


218  THOMAS  H.  BElS^TOIsr 

meridian  which  now  bounds  the  greater  part  of  the 
state  on  the  west.  This  was  a  body  of  land  about 
the  size  of  Delaware  and  in  that  section  forever 
dedicated  to  freedom  by  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
To  Benton's  gratification  there  was  only  the  feeblest 
objection  to  the  extension  and  with  it  went  slavery. 
He  frequently  pointed  to  this  circumstance  in  after 
years  to  show  that  the  North  had  no  desire  to  act 
unfairly  and  it  is  a  pity  there  were  not  enough  en- 
lightened men  to  see  that  this  was  the  case.  The 
fact  is  that  Benton  was  un blinded  by  prejudice  in 
the  matter  while  sooner  or  later  most  people  be- 
came so  imbued  with  their  private  views  that  they 
did  not  seek  the  truth,  nor  would  they  accept  it 
when  it  was  pointed  out  to  them.  This  was  dis- 
heartening to  Benton  who  was  optimistic  almost  to 
the  last  day  of  his  life. 

At  this  session  Michigan  and  Arkansas  applied 
for  admission  as  states  although  for  neither  of  them 
had  Congress  passed  enabling  acts  ;  and  their  ap- 
plications were  therefore  considered  premature. 
Special  committees  were  appointed  in  the  Senate  to 
consider  each  petition.  That  of  Michigan,  the  free 
state,  was  submitted  to  a  committee  of  which  Benton 
was  chairman  and  that  of  the  slave  state  to  a  com- 
mittee headed  by  Buchanan,  so  that  here  at  least 


SLAVERY  AGITATION  AND  TEXAS  219 

there  could  be  no  fear  that  slavery  would  be  un- 
justly treated  by  the  North  in  the  Senate.  Benton 
with  his  usual  liberality,  especially  toward  the 
West,  reported  that  the  haste  of  Michigan  was  not 
a  matter  of  moment,  that  she  was  entitled  to  ad- 
mission and  the  bill  passed  easily.  Arkansas  was 
admitted  by  a  still  larger  vote,  Clay  and  four  other 
senators  being  the  sole  opponents.  In  the  House 
some  excitement  was  caused  by  John  Quincy 
Adams'  opposition  to  a  clause  in  the  constitution 
of  Arkansas  that  seemed  to  make  impossible  the 
freeing  of  any  slave.  Adams  said  that  he  had  his 
personal  views  about  slavery  but  felt  it  his  duty  to 
permit  Arkansas  to  enter  the  Union  as  a  slave 
state.  His  amendment  requiring  a  change  in  the 
constitution,  failed  to  pass,  although  it  was  the 
subject  of  an  all-night  struggle. 

It  was  in  this  debate  that  Adams  made  the  omi- 
nous statement  not  much  thought  of  at  the  time  but 
afterward  remembered.  He  said  that  Congress  in 
time  of  peace  had  no  right  to  abolish  slavery,  by 
implication  giving  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  slaves 
could  be  emancipated  in  time  of  war,  a  discovery 
usually  credited  to  President  Lincoln. 

During  the  Van  Buren  administration  the  angry 
contest  between  the  Abolitionists  and  the  slave- 


220  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

holders  over  the  right  of  petition  took  place  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  In  the  Senate  it  had  be- 
come the  accepted  rule  to  receive  such  petitions  in 
silence  unless  some  member  took  occasion  to  offer 
remarks  upon  the  subject  and  bring  on  one  of  those 
altercations  which  Benton  so  greatly  desired  to 
avoid.  In  the  House  John  Quincy  Adams  gained 
his  title  of  ''the  old  man  eloquent"  by  his 
championship  of  the  right  of  these  petitioners  to 
be  heard.  We  shall  obtain  an  entirely  erroneous 
idea  if  we  suppose  that  by  the  constitutional  right 
of  petition  was  meant  simply  the  right  to  send 
documents  to  Congress.  What  was  intended  was 
the  reference  of  such  petitions  to  a  committee 
which  would  make  a  report  on  the  subject.  The 
so-called  ''  gag-law"  was  simply  a  resolution  phys- 
ically to  present  these  petitions  to  Congress  when 
no  further  attention  would  be  paid  to  them.  Over 
this  subject  the  contest  raged  and  though  the  slave- 
holders won,  Adams  kept  up  the  struggle  against 
the  system  until  it  was  later  sensibly  modified. 

Benton  sat  silent  through  these  debates.  He 
maintained  that  discussion  was  the  worst  possible 
means  of  suppressing  the  evils  complained  of  and 
thought  the  fears  of  Calhoun  were  all  ghosts.  He 
saw  that  no  sooner  was  one  position  taken  to  meet 


SLAVEEY  AGITATION  AXD  TEXAS  221 

the  objections  of  the  Southerners  than  they  shifted 
their  ground  and  made  new  demands.  Calhoun 
who  had  supported  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
again  assailed  it  as  an  evil  measure  which  was 
certain,  if  persisted  in,  to  ruin  the  country.  This 
contention  of  Calhoun's  was  becoming  exceed- 
ingly galling  to  Benton,  who  knew  that  there 
was  no  danger  of  Northern  interference  with  the 
slavery  system,  no  matter  how  many  petitions 
of  individuals  or  societies  were  sent  to  Congress. 
He  foresaw  too,  if  Calhoun  continued  to  assert 
that  the  slave  states  would  sooner  or  later  secede, 
that  the  North  would  arise  and  take  some  radical 
action.  Benton  frequently  referred  to  the  words 
of  Madison  who  in  the  last  year  of  his  life,  at 
the  age  of  eighty -eight,  with  unequaled  knowledge 
of  our  history,  gained  by  personal  contact,  sol- 
emnly stated  that  while  Calhoun  and  his  group 
might  really  mean  no  harm  by  their  threats,  they 
were  undoubtedly  educating  a  set  of  younger  men 
in  their  beliefs  who  would  go  to  further  lengths 
and  would  unite  the  whole  South  on  some  critical 
occasion  when  nullification  would  be  the  first  step, 
secession  and  separation  the  last. 

The  Texas  question  had  not  been  allowed  to 
slumber  since  Monroe,  at  the  North's  behest,  re- 


222  THOMAS  H.  BEIs^TON 

fused  to  accept  this  great  territory  from  Spain. 
BentoD  was  enraged  over  the  action  and  denounced 
Monroe  for  it  until  he  found  that  all  the  members 
of  the  cabinet  had  concurred  in  the  decision.  He 
still  believed  that  it  was  a  tactical  error  and  one 
that  must  be  corrected  sooner  or  later.  His  old 
friend,  Sam  Houston,  who  had  been  a  corporal  in 
his  regiment  in  the  War  of  1812,  had  mystified  and 
astonished  all  his  friends  after  his  election  to  the 
governorship  of  Tennessee  in  1826,  by  suddenly 
disappearing  under  circumstances  which  have 
never  to  this  day  been  satisfactorily  explained.' 
Going  to  Texas  which  was  then  a  Mecca  for 
Americans,  especially  if  they  had  got  into  difSculty 
at  home,  he  soon  engaged  himself  with  the  revolu- 
tionists who  waged  perpetual  war  against  Mexico, 
a  republic  in  name  and  a  despotism  in  operation. 
At  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  Houston  won  a  com- 
plete victory  over  General  Santa  Anna  and  Texas 
thereafter  asserted  her  independence.  In  this  terri- 
tory could  be  seen  several  potential  slave  states. 
Under  existing  conditions  there  was  only  one  more 
slave  state  in  view,  Florida,  but  she  made  such  slow 
progress  in  population  and  was  the  scene  of  an 

KSee  •'Recollections  of  Fifty  Years,"  by  A.  K.  McClure,  for 
one  account  of  this  disappearance. 


SLAVEKY  AGITATION  AND  TEXAS  223 

Indian  war  so  long  and  bloody,  that  her  admission 
was  likely  to  suffer  long  postponement. 

In  1836  a  proposal  was  made  for  the  annexation 
of  Texas  but  that  state  was  still  engaged  in  fighting 
Mexico  and  had  not  asked  the  privilege.     In  1838 
the  Texans  made  formal  application  for  statehood 
although  the  war  continued  in  a  desultory  way. 
As  the  administration  was  not  ready  for  war  with 
Mexico,  the  subject  was  given  very  little  considera- 
tion and  was  laid  on  the  table  in  the  Senate  by  a 
decisive  vote.     Benton,  in  spite  of  his  belief  that 
we  should  have  held  Texas,  was  not  willing  to  fight 
for  it  now,  especially  as  such  action  would  reopen 
the  slavery  question.     His  constant  hope  of  quell- 
ing this  agitation  is  creditable  to  his  heart  but  not 
to  his  head,  since  if  there  were  one  thing  that  could 
not  be  suppressed  it  was  this  very  subject  which 
propagandists  on  both  sides  were  discussing  in- 
cessantly. 

In  Tyler's  administration  the  question  came  for- 
ward once  more,  and  in  a  more  ominous  way.  The 
President  was  scheming  for  re-election  and  his  chief 
issue  was  Texas.  He  had  played  the  Whigs  false 
and  the  Democrats  were  willing  to  use  him  as  a 
tool  but  he  still  believed  that  he  was  to  be  his  own 
successor.     Texan  annexation  he  thought  would 


224  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

secure  him  a  "solid  South"  while  Northern 
Democrats  would  come  to  his  support,  assuring 
him  the  victory. 

The  first  movement  in  this  direction  was  the 
publication  of  a  broadside  in  a  newspaper,  stating 
that  Great  Britain  was  about  to  annex  Texas  and 
seize  Oregon,  when  she  would  have  this  nation  en- 
compassed on  all  sides.  The  article  was  adroit, 
seemingly  based  on  genuine  information,  cunningly 
calculated  to  alarm  the  American  people  and 
carefully  concealing  the  underlying  slavery  ques- 
tion. Benton  had  no  faith  in  such  news.  He  be- 
lieved that  Calhoun  was  the  author  of  the  article 
or  at  least  had  inspired  it.  At  this  time  Calhoun, 
made  Secretary  of  State  through  the  Princeton  dis- 
aster, was  a  candidate  for  the  presidential  nomina- 
tion. His  whole  soul  was  in  the  Texas  annexation 
scheme  but  he  perceived  that  it  was  surrounded 
with  many  difficulties.  A  more  ingenious  ruse  was 
never  invented  in  politics  than  that  which  was  pre- 
pared and  carried  out  to  secure  Texas.  From  the 
first  Benton  was  considered  an  important  factor  in 
the  affair  but  as  he  was  a  foe  of  Calhoun  it  was 
necessary  to  approach  him  diplomatically.  This 
was  done  through  the  medium  of  Senator  Biown, 
of  Tennessee,  an  old  companion,  who  came  to  Ben- 


SLAVERY  AGITATION  AND  TEXAS  225 

ton  T7ith  many  warm  expressions  of  friendship  and 
congratulated  him  on  the  fact  that  at  last  Texas 
was  to  be  joined  to  the  Union.  Benton  was  no  man 
to  be  captured  with  soft  words.  To  Brown's  suav- 
ity he  rex)lied  : 

''Texan  annexation  as  now  planned  is  on  the 
part  of  some  an  intrigue  for  the  presidency  and  a 
plot  to  dissolve  the  Union ;  on  the  part  of  others 
a  Texas  scrip  and  land  speculation,  and  I  am 
against  it." 

This  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  Southern  men  and 
it  was  seen  that  haste  must  be  made  to  commit 
Jackson  to  annexation.  By  means  of  clever 
diplomacy,  by  playing  on  the  old  man's  patriotism 
and  his  vanity,  the  ruse  succeeded  and  Jackson  de- 
clared strongly  for  the  treaty  of  annexation,  much 
to  the  disgust  of  Benton  and  many  of  "Old 
Hickory's"  stoutest  friends.  Jackson  perceived, 
when  it  was  too  late,  that  he  had  unwittingly 
aimed  a  blow  at  the  renomination  of  Van  Buren 
and  sought  in  vain  to  counteract  the  effect  of  his 
action. 

Then  came  a  most  surprising  development.  Al- 
though the  letter  alleging  that  Great  Britain  was 
about  to  annex  Texas  had  no  official  standing 
whatever,    the    English   government  was   induced 


226  THOMAS  H.  BENTOK 

to  take  note  of  it  and  Lord  Aberdeen,  British 
Foreign  Secretary,  wrote  a  despatch  in  which  an 
emphatic  denial  was  given  to  the  rumor.  This  was 
proper  enough  but  his  lordship  made  a  most  ex- 
traordinary blunder  by  announcing  in  the  course 
of  his  despatch,  that  ^^  Great  Britain  desires,  and 
is  constantly  exerting  herself  to  procure,  the  gen- 
eral abolition  of  slavery  throughout  the  world." 

It  was  true  that  his  government  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  American  slavery  and  would 
never  interfere  in  our  domestic  affairs,  but  the  an- 
nouncement set  the  country  aflame.  Calhoun  and 
his  followers  were  beside  themselves  with  rage. 
The  Abolitionists  welcomed  the  statement  and  it 
was  an  invitation  to  continue  their  propaganda. 
After  the  signing  of  the  treaty  in  April,  1844,  to 
annex  Texas  suddenly  and  by  stealth.  Secretary 
of  State  Calhoun,  proceeded  to  reply  to  Lord 
Aberdeen  in  a  despatch  which  must  have  amazed 
that  dignified  gentleman.  It  was  a  stump  speech, 
addressed  to  the  American  people  and  contained 
data  which  was  of  no  interest  to  Great  Britain — in- 
deed it  was  hardly  comprehensible  in  England.  It 
was  an  argument  for  slavery  and  its  extension  and 
contained  an  alleged  compilation  of  statistics  show- 
ing how  much  better  morally,  spiritually  and  phys- 


SLAVEEY  AGITATION  AND  TEXAS  227 

ically  were  the  slaves  than  the  free  blacks.  The 
document  had  its  uses  in  forwarding  the  Texas 
matter,  but  the  trick  was  discovered  and  exposed 
by  Benton  who  proceeded,  as  he  said,  to  ^^puU  the 
devil  from  under  the  blanket,"  meaning  Calhoun. 

Benton's  position  was  now  very  peculiar.  He 
was  opposed  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  by  the 
treaty  which  had  been  secretly  and  underhandedly 
negotiated  only  to  fail  by  a  decisive  vote  in  the 
Senate.  He  felt  that  no  such  important  treaty 
should  be  carried  through  without  legislative 
action  and  some  consideration  for  Mexico.  In 
these  days  it  is  easy  for  us  to  say  that  Mexico  was 
still  sovereign  over  the  disputed  territory  and  that 
the  Texan  affair  was  a  conspiracy  from  beginning 
to  end.  If  there  had  been  a  good  government  in 
Mexico,  if  there  had  been  a  proper  administrative 
supervision  of  Texas  from  the  Mexican  capital, 
there  might  be  something  in  this  contention.  But 
this  was  not  the  case. 

The  discussion  proceeded  after  the  election  of 
Polk.  Although  disappointed  because  of  Van 
Buren's  defeat  in  1844,  Benton  had  felt  called 
upon  to  support  the  party  candidate  in  this  cam- 
paign. Polk  was  an  open  and  avowed  annexa- 
tionist but  with  some  reserve  since  he  desired  to 


228  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOX 

respect  the  rights  of  all  who  were  involved  in  the 
contest. 

At  the  session  of  1844-45,  the  Senate  objected  to  the 
first  annexation  proposal  which  was  fathered  by  the 
House  and  which  was  that  Texas  should  come  into 
the  Union  simply  by  a  resolution  of  Congress  to  that 
effect.  This  was  an  unprecedented  course.  The 
Senate  contained  some  members  opposed  to  an- 
nexation on  any  terms  and  very  few  were  favor- 
able to  this  new  suggestion  since  it  seemed  certain 
to  result  in  war.  There  was  no  guarantee  that 
Mexico  would  be  satisfied  with  the  boundary  lines 
as  they  were  fixed  by  Congress  though  this  dispute 
was  supposed  to  be  provided  for  in  the  bill.  It  was 
alleged  by  senators  of  all  parties  that  a  matter  of 
this  sort  required  not  only  legislative  action  but 
diplomatic  negotiation  so  that  there  should  be  an 
understanding  among  the  three  nations  involved. 
Benton  took  the  lead  and  introduced  a  resolution 
to  the  effect  that  annexation  should  be  arranged  for 
wholly  by  negotiation.  The  Senate  favored  this 
idea  but  the  end  of  the  session  was  now  at  hand 
and  unless  something  were  done  speedily  the  matter 
must  go  over  to  the  next  Congress  which  was  what 
the  cooler  heads  preferred. 

Senator  Walker,   of  Mississippi,   soon  to  enter 


SLAVERY  AGITATION  AKD  TEXAS  229 

upon  a  more  distinguished  career,  now  came  for- 
ward with  a  proposal  that  the  propositions  of  the 
House  and  the  Senate  be  joined  so  that  the 
President  could  take  his  choice.  This  was  an 
extraordinary  compromise,  one  that  never  could 
have  been  agreed  to  except  that  President-elect 
Polk  was  in  town  in  conference  with  the  leaders 
of  the  party  and  anxious  to  have  something 
done.  He  announced  that  if  the  bill  were  passed 
in  its  dual  form  he  would  take  the  Senate's  advice 
and  send  out  a  commission  composed  of  able  men, 
representing  all  shades  of  opinion  on  the  subject. 
Benton  agreed  to  this  and  after  canvassing  the  Sen- 
ate and  House  it  was  found  that  the  measure  could 
pass.  It  is  true,  the  suggestion  was  offered  that 
Tyler  might  at  the  last  moment  act  on  the  annexa- 
tion question  himself.  This  idea  was  resented  with 
indignation  by  members  on  both  sides  of  the  cham- 
ber who  considered  such  a  suggestion  an  imputation 
not  only  upon  the  President  but  upon  the  high 
office  which  he  filled.  When  all  possible  guaran- 
tees seemed  to  be  given,  the  Senate  passed  the  bill 
with  much  reluctance  and  by  a  majority  of  only 
two  votes.  The  House  concurred  and  on  Saturday, 
March  1,  the  measure  went  to  the  President  and 
the  senators  were  considering  who  should  execute 


230  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

the  delicate  commission.  On  Monday,  when  Con- 
gress met  for  its  last  legislative  day,  great  was  the 
surprise  and  anger  of  many  members  to  learn  that 
the  'impossible  infamy"  had  taken  place,  that 
Tyler  had  sent  a  commissioner  to  negotiate  for  the 
annexation  of  Texas  according  to  the  House  plan 
and  that  Polk  would  be  relieved  of  all  responsibil- 
ity in  the  matter. 

The  rage  of  the  Senate  knew  no  bounds  and  Ben- 
ton was  almost  beside  himself.  He  had  been  the 
unconscious  instrument  by  which  the  country  had 
taken  over  a  war.  Had  he  supposed  for  a  moment 
that  Tyler  would  act  with  such  precipitancy  and 
against  the  manifest  wish  of  Congress,  the  bill 
would  never  have  reached  the  President.  The 
fraud,  as  Benton  said,  was  ^'prolific  of  evil  and 
pregnant  with  bloody  fruit." 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  WAR  WITH    MEXICO 

Benton,  as  we  have  seen,  made  no  concealment 
of  his  belief  that  the  war  with  Mexico  was  conceived 
in  sin  and  born  in  iniquity,  but  like  so  many  others 
of  a  similar  opinion  he  found  no  recourse  but  to 
support  the  government  after  the  contest  had  been 
begun.  He  always  accused  Calhoun  of  being  the 
author  of  the  war  though  that  statesman  was 
actually  opposed  to  it,  little  supposing  that  his 
piece  of  trickery  (for  Calhoun  is  alleged  to  have 
led  Tyler  into  it),  would  produce  a  clash  of  arms. 
South  Carolina's  great  leader  thought  the  Mexican 
government  would  dispose  of  its  interest  in  Texas 
for  a  lump  sum. 

In  Benton's  view  the  war  was  the  result  of  a  con- 
spiracy : 

^'  On  Sunday  the  second  day  of  March— that  day 
which  preceded  the  last  day  of  his  [Tyler's]  author- 
ity— and  on  that  day,  sacred  to  peace — the  council 
sat  that  acted  on  the  resolutions,  and  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night,  howling  with  the  storm  and  bat- 


232  THOMAS  H.  BEIS^TON 

tling  with  the  elements  as  if  Heaven  warred  upon 
the  audacious  act  (for  well  do  I  remember  it),  the 
fatal  messenger  was  sent  off  which  carried  the  se- 
lected resolution  to  Texas." 

This  passage  refers  to  Tyler's  precipitate  action 
in  securing  Texas  when  it  was  intended  that  Polk 
should  negotiate  for  it  on  the  basis  of  the  Senate's 
bill.  The  messenger  accomplished  his  mission  but 
there  was  another  task  which  was  esteemed  of 
more  importance.  Negotiations  had  been  opened 
with  General  Santa  Anna,  the  one-legged  ex- 
dictator  of  Mexico,  who  had  been  in  and  out 
of  power  many  times,  and  was  now  in  exile. 
The  plan  was  that  as  soon  as  the  war  should 
open,  Santa  Anna  would  be  allowed  to  pass  through 
the  American  lines  and  enter  the  City  of  Mexico 
where  he  was  to  counsel  peace,  Mexico  receiving 
her  douceur  in  a  large  sum  of  money.  The  first 
part  of  the  program  was  carried  out.  Santa  Anna 
reached  Mexico  by  our  own  connivance  but  instead 
of  being  our  friend,  turned  against  us,  raised  the 
standard  of  Mexico,  called  the  populace  to  his  sup- 
port, and  conducted  the  war  to  the  end  with  con- 
siderable ability  in  spite  of  his  constant  defeats. 

Congress  did  not  vote  the  two  millions  asked  of  it 
to  buy  off  Mexico,  and  in  the  next  Congress  Polk 


THE  WAK  WITH  MEXICO  233 

called  for  three  millions  to  be  employed  secretly. 
There  was  opposition  to  such  underhand  use  of 
money  and  any  possibility  of  voting  it  was  removed 
when  David  Wilmot,  a  member  of  the  House  from 
a  northeast  Pennsylvania  district,  offered  the  pro- 
viso bearing  his  name,  which  became  the  rallying 
point  in  politics  for  many  years,  and  embodied  the 
idea  upon  which  the  Eepublican  party  was  essen- 
tially founded.  This  Proviso  was  to  the  effect  that 
slavery  should  not  be  permitted  in  any  territory 
secured  as  a  result  of  the  appropriation.  It  started 
the  flames  of  slavery  agitation  once  more,  much  to 
the  disgust  of  Benton.  He  saw  that  this  was  what 
Calhoun  desired,  since  it  gave  him  an  issue  on 
which  to  continue  his  nullification  propaganda. 

Benton,  as  usual,  saw  no  occasion  for  forcing  the 
contest.  He  said  there  was  no  reason  for  the  Proviso 
as  there  was  no  slavery  in  the  territory  in  question 
and  it  would  be  time  enough  to  settle  the  matter 
when  it  came  up  in  concrete  form.  He  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  suppressing  the  Wilmot  idea,  as  it  remained 
the  most  x)otent  suggestion  in  regard  to  slavery  re- 
striction which  had  yet  been  offered.  It  also  had 
for  its  effect  the  birth  of  the  Southern  doctrine  that 
Congress  had  no  right  to  legislate  respecting  slav- 
ery in  the  territories.     This  was  a  proposition  so 


234  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

contrary  to  fact  and  to  the  former  beliefs  of  Cal- 
houn, that  it  was  long  ere  Benton  could  be  con- 
vinced that  a  stand  was  to  be  made  on  this  theory. 
He  had  now  some  ten  years  more  of  public  life  and 
to  the  last  he  fought  this  proposition  which  was  not 
only  false  in  principle  but  was,  as  he  said,  ^'a 
damnable  heresy." 

This  issue  marked  a  crisis  in  his  political  life. 
Hitherto  he  had  fought  with  much  success  against 
the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  and  had  been 
able  to  impress  Northern  and  Southern  statesmen 
with  his  view  that  there  was  nothing  to  agitate. 
He  still  maintained  this  position  in  public  but 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  he  was  not  well  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  his  theory.  As  he  saw  the  dis- 
ciples of  Calhoun  increase  in  numbers  his  heart 
began  to  fail  him.  He  would  not  support  the 
Wilmot  Proviso  but  he  gave  no  countenance  to  the 
nullifiers. 

We  must  be  just  to  Benton.  He  may  have  failed 
to  discern  the  signs  of  coming  storm,  to  realize  that 
the  battle  must  be  fought  between  those  who  were 
on  the  side  of  the  Proviso  and  those  who  thought 
with  Calhoun  that  Congress  could  not  legislate  at 
all  on  slavery.  He  may  have  lacked  that  percep- 
tive quality  which  he  usually  possessed  in  looking 


THE  WAE  WITH  MEXICO  235 

at  public  questions.  Or  he  may  have  seen  the 
danger  clearly  enough,  hoping  that  his  policy  of 
repression  would  finally  win.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  know  that  the  outcome  was  not  what  he  had  ex- 
pected and  that  the  contest  between  the  two  elements 
in  the  country  continued  to  grow  fiercer,  with  a 
single  temporary  interruption,  until  the  Civil  War. 

Perhaps  it  was  too  much  to  expect  that  a  man  of 
more  than  sixty  who  had  so  long  fought  for  the 
integrity  of  the  Union  would  change  his  views 
easily.  It  can  be  asserted  without  fear  of  contra- 
diction that  there  never  was  a  moment  when  he  did 
not  strive  to  do  his  whole  duty  as  he  saw  it,  and 
that  as  he  became  older  his  determination  grew 
stronger  to  smite  the  monster  of  nullification. 

When  Congress  met  again  Benton  was  once  more 
called  into  conference  with  the  President,  who  ad- 
mired him  and  respected  him  though  the  two 
men  had  no  political  affiliations.  Polk  had  deter- 
mined on  a  campaign  of  ''masterly  inactivity." 
By  this  time  Taylor  had  fought  the  battles  of  Palo 
Alto  and  Eesaca  de  la  Palma,  had  crossed  over  to 
Matamoras  and  had  taken  Monterey.  The  news  of 
the  first  bloodshed  had  inflamed  the  country  and 
Congress  at  its  late  session  had  provided  for  an 
increase  of  the  army  and  some  volunteers.     Polk 


236  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

had  sent  to  Congress  the  lying  message  in  which 
he  declared  that  the  war  had  been  inaugurated  by 
Mexico  through  the  shedding  of  American  blood 
on  American  soil.  Though  knowing  that  it  was 
false,  Congress  voted  him  men  and  money  and  Ben- 
ton had  spent  a  vacation  at  home  heartsick  over 
the  situation.  He  was  convinced,  however,  that  if 
there  was  to  be  a  war  it  had  better  be  a  short  and 
aggressive  one.  He  was  not  of  those  who  relied 
upon  the  promises  of  the  administration  that  there 
would  be  no  war,  or  that,  after  hostilities  had 
begun  it  would  last  from  sixty  to  ninety  days,  or 
four  months  at  the  most.  Benton  was  perhaps  the 
ripest  Spanish  scholar  in  the  country.  He  was  bet- 
ter versed  in  the  history  of  the  Spanish-American 
states  than  any  man  in  public  life  and  had  no  illu- 
sions on  the  subject.  He  knew  that  the  military 
spirit  was  aroused  in  Mexico  and  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  there  was  so  large  a  proportion  of  our 
people  who  believed  the  war  unjust,  it  was  certain 
there  would  be  no  lack  of  men  on  our  side  to  up- 
hold the  banners  of  the  nation. 

He  was  therefore  much  chagrined  when  Polk 
showed  him  his  annual  message  and  asked  his  views 
concerning  that  portion  which  dealt  with  the  war. 
It  exasperated  Benton  to  find  that  the  idea  of  the 


THE  WAE  WITH  MEXICO  237 

President,  supported  unanimously  by  his  cabinet, 
was  to  do  nothing,  wasting  time  in  negotiation, 
the  real  expectation  being  that  Mexico  could  be 
*' bought  off.  ^'  Benton,  as  requested,  replied  in  a 
letter  in  which  he  made  strong  objections  to  the  pro- 
posed plan  of  '' masterly  inactivity."  His  policy, 
as  outlined  therein,  was  to  attack  Vera  Cruz,  capture 
it  and  send  an  army  on  the  road  to  Mexico  City, 
following  the  route  taken  by  Cortez  centuries  before. 
To  do  this  there  must  be  another  call  for  volunteers, 
as  it  was  neither  practicable  nor  popular  to  raise 
regulars  hastily  for  the  purpose. 

Polk  was  much  impressed  by  this  proposal  and 
invited  Benton  to  a  cabinet  meeting  where  the 
whole  plan  was  considered  carefully  and  rejected. 
The  Secretary  of  War  had  been  telling  the  gover- 
nors of  the  States  that  no  more  volunteers  were 
needed  and  he  did  not  wish  to  change  his  policy. 
Benton  finally  had  his  own  way,  much  to  the  annoy- 
ance of  the  cabinet,  and  the  plan  to  prosecute  the 
war  actively  was  adopted.  This  was  exactly  what 
General  Scott  wished.  He  himself  desired  to  go 
forward  and  fight  his  way  to  the  Mexican  capital. 
He  was  at  the  head  of  the  army  and  it  was  natural 
and  right  that  he  should  have  the  place,  but  Taylor 
had  achieved  so  much  success  that  he  could  not 


238  THOMAS  H.  BEISTTON 

well  be  superseded.  This  was  the  situation  in  a 
military  way,  while  political  considerations  were 
of  much  more  importance.  Taylor  was  a  \^'hig 
and  already  there  had  been  talk  of  making  him  a 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  Scott  also  heard  the 
buzzing  of  the  Presidential  bee  and  the  adminis- 
tration was  perfectly  well  aware  that  the  war  would 
yield  a  candidate  who  would  in  all  probability  suc- 
ceed at  the  polls.  It  was  maddening  to  think  that 
a  Whig  might  profit  by  the  Mexican  victories  and 
Polk  was  anxious  to  have  a  Democrat  take  the 
leadership  if  possible.  As  there  was  no  Democrat 
in  the  army  of  the  necessary  qualifications  the 
thought  arose  in  the  President's  mind  that  Benton 
would  be  the  man  for  the  place. '  He  had  been  a 
colonel  of  volunteers  in  the  War  of  1812  and  a 
lieutenant-colonel  in  the  regular  army  when  he  had 
actual  rank  ahead  of  either  Taylor  or  Scott.  It 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  Polk's  idea  that  Benton 
should  command  upon  the  battle-field,  but  he  was  to 
go  to  the  front  as  lieutenant-general  and  exercise 
an  oversight  over  the  two  contending  armies,  and 
particularly  to  make  the  treaty  of  peace  when  the 
fighting  had  come  to  an  end.     Benton  rather  ex- 

^  In  some  accounts  it  is  stated  that  Benton  was  the  first  to 
make  the  suggestion. 


THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO  239 

pected  to  stay  in  Washington  and  deal  with  grand 
strategy  only. 

It  is  really  singular  to  think  that  he  should  ever 
have  entertained  such  a  proposal.  It  is  true  that 
he  was  commonly  called  ' '  Colonel ' '  Benton  and 
was  proud  of  the  very  little  experience  he  had  in 
war,  though  none  of  it  was  gained  in  actual  combat. 
But  that  he  was  not  trained  in  the  art  of  war  every 
one  knows  and  that  he  would  have  developed  com- 
petency seems  most  improbable.  It  was  here  that 
the  vanity  of  the  man  appeared.  He  loved  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  war  and  was  desirous  of 
popular  applause  of  all  kinds.  He  would  have 
loved  to  come  home  as  the  conqueror,  ready  to  take 
the  presidency.  And  it  is  certain  that  this  plan 
would  have  been  carried  out  had  not  some  of  his 
own  party  opposed  the  project,  among  them  Bu- 
chanan, who  in  the  elevation  of  Benton  saw  death 
to  his  own  ambitions.  Others  who  ought  now 
really  to  have  aided  Benton,  or  refrained  from  op- 
posing him,  succeeded  in  killing  the  measure,  so 
that  he  never  wore  the  three  stars  he  coveted  and 
we  can  rejoice  that  he  did  not,  since  his  true  fame 
could  not  have  been  enhanced  by  waging  a  war  to 
which  he  was  sincerely  opposed  in  principle. 
Later  he  was  nominated  and  confirmed  a  major- 


240  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

general  but,  after  some  curious  backing  and  filling 
on  the  subject,  declined  the  service. 

Taylor  was  left  on  the  Eio  Grande,  Scott  fought 
his  way  to  Mexico  City  and  the  war  ended  with  the 
rape  of  Mexican  territory  as  far  West  as  the  Pacific 
coast  for  which  we  paid  an  enormous  sum  to  salve 
the  national  conscience. 

The  war  had  many  peculiar  phases.  One  inci- 
dent in  which  Benton  was  peculiarly  interested  was 
the  behavior  of  his  son-in-law  Fremont.  On  his 
third  exploring  expedition  he  dismissed  topography 
from  his  mind  and  started  off  on  his  own  account 
to  capture  California  for  the  nation  before  he 
knew  that  a  war  with  Mexico  was  in  progress. 
Ostensibly  he  began  operations  in  behalf  of  the 
local  ^'patriots"  who  were  all  Americans,  con- 
ducting a  kind  of  revolution  like  the  Texans,  but 
he  knew  that  the  war  was  sure  to  come  and  saw 
that  a  British  squadron  was  ready  to  seize  the 
country.  Therefore  he  took  the  initiative  and  won, 
gaining  a  good  deal  of  rather  cheap  glory,  as  it 
proved  in  the  end,  while  he  might  have  been 
hanged  had  things  turned  out  differently.  As  it 
was,  when  Fremont  reached  home  he  was  court- 
martialed.  Though  Polk  did  not  sustain  the  sen- 
tence of  dismissal  the  young  man  resigned  from  the 


THE  WAE  WITH  MEXICO  241 

army,  later  to  enjoy  a  brief  and  spectacular  career 
in  politics  and  in  the  Civil  War,  after  which  he  was 
forgotten  for  a  generation. 

Eegardless  of  the  morals  of  the  contest  it  must  be 
said  that  it  rounded  out  our  boundaries  to  their 
natural  limits,  the  more  so  because  railway  trans- 
portation was  fast  developing  and  California  was 
by  no  means  so  remote  as  twenty-five  years  before, 
when  Benton  supposed  that  the  Eocky  Mountains 
were  our  natural  barrier. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  although  the  country  was 
divided  on  the  issue  of  waging  the  war  there  was 
little  objection  to  taking  the  unholy  spoil.  Whigs 
united  with  Democrats  in  voting  all  the  money  that 
was  needed  and  though  the  Wilmot  Proviso  in  one 
shape  or  another  came  up  forty  times  in  Congress 
it  never  passed  both  houses  and  the  only  result  was 
a  party  shibboleth  for  the  rising  generation.  It 
was  all  very  well  for  Benton  to  say  there  was  no 
danger,  but  there  was  danger.  Nothing  could  now 
prevent  a  culmination  of  the  issue.  Calhoun  was 
more  convinced  than  ever  that  Congress  had  no 
right  to  legislate  concerning  slavery  in  the  terri- 
tories ;  that  it  was  a  national  institution,  carried  by 
force  of  the  Constitution  wherever  that  instrument 
held  sway  ;  that  any  attempt  to  interfere  with  it 


242  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

was  certain  cause  for  a  disruption  of  the  Union. 
And  by  this  time  he  had  gathered  around  him  a 
number  of  young  men  who  not  only  held  his  doc- 
trines, but  were  willing  to  see  them  carried  to  their 
legitimate  conclusion. 

It  had  now  become  plain  that  Taylor  would  be 
the  candidate  of  the  Whig  party  in  1848  and  that 
his  chances  of  election  were  good.  To  prevent  this 
result  the  administration  resorted  to  all  kinds  of 
expedients.  It  recalled  Trist  who  made  the  treaty. 
It  recalled  Scott  from  the  field  by  a  subterfuge. 
Polk  and  his  advisers  had  done  well  from  a  prac- 
tical point  of  view.  They  had  re-established  the 
independent  treasury  system ;  enacted  a  new  low 
tariff  law  which  was  bringing  in  a  good  deal  of 
revenue  ;  floated  loans  at  an  advantageous  rate  and 
had  been  successful  in  the  field  in  every  encounter. 
Yet  the  administration  could  not  command  the 
support  of  the  people,  as  they  were  determined  to 
have  ''Old  Zach,"  who  had  done  so  much  of  the 
fighting  and  whose  victory  at  Buena  Vista  was  one 
of  the  most  notable  in  our  annals. 

Clay  was  disgusted  at  this  manifestation  of  love 
for  a  military  candidate,  for  once  more  the  fires  of 
ambition  were  burning  in  him.  He  was  thrust 
aside  for  a  man  without  civil  experience.     The 


THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO  243 

convention  did  not  even  adopt  a  platform.  Taylor 
beat  Clay,  Scott,  and  Webster,  and  all  the  defeated 
men  were  so  much  disgruntled  that  they  never  re- 
covered from  the  experience.  Clay  and  Webster 
gave  their  adhesion  only  at  the  last  moment,  after 
the  strongest  expressions  of  disapproval  of  Taylor's 
candidacy. 

The  Democrats  were  doomed  to  defeat  from  the 
very  beginning.  At  the  regular  convention  there 
was  a  contest  over  seating  the  delegates  from 
Kew  York  state.  A  bolt  followed  and  led  to  the 
famous  Free  Soil  Convention  which  nominated 
Van  Buren.  Cass  was  nominated  by  the  regular 
Democracy.  He  maintained  a  neutral  position 
on  the  slavery  question  after  the  convention  had 
voted  down  some  radical  proposals  from  the 
South.  Benton  greatly  deplored  this  split  in  the 
party  and  did  not  ally  himself  with  the  Van 
Buren  men,  though  most  of  his  personal  friends 
were  in  that  faction  and  it  is  probable  that  he  ad- 
hered more  closely  to  their  view  than  to  the  other. 
Indeed,  from  this  time  forth  Benton  was  a  man 
without  a  party  and  his  retirement  from  public  life 
was  caused  by  his  refusal  to  take  sides  at  a  time 
when  such  action  was  imperative. 
It  is  evident  from  the  temper  of  his  letters  and 


244  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

speeches  that  lie  was  beginning  to  lose  hope  of  con- 
verting the  Calhoun  party,  and  the  rest  of  his  life 
was  devoted  to  preserving  that  Union  he  loved  so 
much  and  had  served  so  long  and  well. 

There  is  pathos  in  his  complaint  that  the  Demo- 
cratic party  by  adopting  the  two -thirds  rule  usurped 
popular  powers,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  objected 
to  conventions  as  they  were  conducted,  just  as  he 
continued  to  the  last  to  inveigh  against  the  method 
of  electing  the  president  and  vice-president.  He 
labored  for  a  change  in  the  system  with  a  devotion 
and  energy  that  were  worthy  of  greater  success.  In 
fact,  Benton  had  only  one  more  great  role  to  enact 
and  his  work  in  the  Senate  was  done. 


CHAPTEE  XII 

THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850 

Benton's  last  stand  was  made  in  the  first  session 
of  Congress  which  met  under  Taylor  and  never  did 
he  appear  to  such  splendid  advantage.  The  clouds 
of  disunion  were  lowering  and  many  felt  the  time 
had  come  when  an  accommodation  could  no  longer 
be  made  between  the  two  sections  of  the  country. 
The  immediate  cause  of  dissatisfaction  was  the  fact 
that  California,  which  had  rapidly  increased  in 
population  under  the  stimulus  of  the  gold  dis- 
coveries, had  held  a  convention  and  applied  for 
admission  as  a  state.  In  the  convention  there  was 
only  one  vote  for  slavery.  The  result  was  dis- 
heartening to  Calhoun  and  his  school  because  they 
saw  in  our  newly  acquired  territory  ample  room 
for  enough  states,  with  Texas  dismembered,  to 
keep  up  that  equilibrium  of  free  and  slave  com- 
monwealths, declared  by  them  to  be  absolutely 
essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  which 
they  were  determined  to  destroy  if  such  a  relation 
were  not  maintained  indefinitely. 

The  Whigs  who  had  been  so  joyous  over  the 


246  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOX 

election  of  Taylor  soon  found  there  were  many 
flies  in  the  ointment  and  when  Congress  met  in 
December,  1849,  distrust  and  fear  ruled.  In  the 
rearrangement  of  personal  views  over  the  question 
of  slavery  extension  old  political  lines  had  been 
sadly  broken.  In  the  House  only  ninety-five 
members  had  been  re-elected  and  the  division  on 
party  lines  was  so  close  that  a  small  number  of 
independents  held  the  balance  of  power  in  choos- 
ing a  speaker.  Winthrop  was  set  aside  and  after  a 
long  contest  which  greatly  delayed  the  business  of 
the  session  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  was  elected  by  a 
plurality  when  it  was  found  impossible  to  obtain  a 
majority  for  any  candidate. 

By  general  agreement  of  all  historians,  the 
Senate  which  met  that  year  was  the  most  distin- 
guished legislative  body  that  ever  sat  in  America. 
To  read  the  names  is  to  us  what  it  was  to  the 
Greeks  to  call  the  roll  of  their  commanders  who 
went  forth  to  capture  Troy. ' 

Benton  was  the  oldest  of  all  in  point  of  service 
but  he  was  soon  to  disappear.  Though  there  was 
a  bitter  three-cornered  contest  over  the  senatorship 
in  Missouri,  he  remained  at  Washington  and  at- 
tended to  his  duties  like  a  Eoman.  Every  word  he 
*  Blaine's  ''Tweuty  Years  in  Congress." 


THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850  247 

uttered  was  scrutinized  aud  he  never  faltered  for 
an  instant  in  the  devotion  to  those  principles  which 
he  had  championed  for  thirty  years. 

Here  sat  for  the  last  time  the  members  of  the 
great  triumvirate,  men  whose  like  has  never  been 
known  in  our  history  before  or  since  ;  men  whose 
transcendent  abilities  had  in  every  case  been  pros- 
tituted to  ambition.  Of  this  combination  it  was 
said  that  they  were  "always  in  rivalry,  invincible 
in  union,  and  terrible  in  opposition."  Clay  had 
come  back  at  the  earnest  behest  of  Kentucky  to 
make  one  more  effort  to  save  the  Union.  He  was 
old  and  feeble ;  the  cough  which  finally  resulted  in 
his  death  annoyed  him  greatly  and  he  had  to  be 
helped  up  and  down  the  marble  steps.  Webster 
sat  in  his  seat  very  seldom.  He  was  engaged  in 
arguments  before  the  Supreme  Court  and  was 
nursing  a  grievance.  He  had  denounced  the 
nomination  of  Taylor  as  one  not  fit  to  be  made. 
Long  coveting  the  honor  for  himself,  to  see  a 
backwoods  colonel  suddenly  elevated  to  the 
chief  magistracy  was  more  than  his  proud  spirit 
could  bear.  He  gave  no  sign  of  his  purposes  for 
some  time.  Calhoun  was  on  the  verge  of  the 
grave  but  as  defiant  as  ever.  The  edifice  of  seces- 
sion which  was  being  reared  so  that  all  could  be- 


248  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

hold  it,  was  his  own  work  and  though  he  was  not 
to  see  it  completed  he  had  able  lieutenants  who 
were  to  carry  nullification  into  secession  and  civil 
war. 

These  were  the  four  great  men  of  the  Senate  and 
in  many  respects  Benton  towered  above  them  all. 
In  moral  courage  and  self-sacrifice  he  was  easily 
superior ;  in  patriotism  the  equal  of  any.  No 
siren  voice  could  charm  him  from  devotion  to  the 
Union  and  the  laws.  He  was  willing  to  meet  de- 
feat rather  than  deviate,  compromise  or  equivo- 
cate 5  while  the  other  three  were  willing  to  do 
almost  anything  to  avoid  the  crisis  which  im- 
pended. 

Of  the  younger  men  there  was  Seward,  who  was 
to  speak  the  sentiments  of  a  coming  age  and  an- 
nounce his  ^'higher  law,"  so  shocking  to  Benton 
and  the  older  men.  There  was  Jefferson  Davis, 
son-in-law  of  the  President  and  his  strongest  polit- 
ical foe,  the  man  who  was  to  preside  over  the  Con- 
federacy through  its  brief  and  stormy  existence. 
Douglas  was  a  Northern  trimmer  to  be  overthrown 
at  last  by  Lincoln.  Corwin  and  Chase  sat  for  Ohio, 
two  of  the  ablest  men  that  state  ever  produced  and 
both  ambitious.  Sam  Houston,  the  Union -loving 
liberator  of  Texas,  was  the  handsomest  man  in  the 


THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850  249 

body  and  by  some  esteemed  the  finest-looking  man 
in  America.  From  Michigan  came  Cass,  '^Old 
Dough  Face,"  so  often  a  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dential nomination.  Bell,  of  Tennessee ;  Hale,  of 
New  Hampshire  ;  and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  were  soon 
to  be  better  known  in  politics  as  contestants  for 
high  honors.  Virginia  sent  Mason  and  Hunter, 
later  to  be  distinguished  officers  under  the  Con- 
federacy. King,  of  Alabama,  soon  to  be  elected 
Vice-president ;  Soule,  of  Louisiana,  who  tried  to 
pick  a  quarrel  with  Spain ;  Berrien,  of  Georgia  j 
Butler,  of  South  Carolina,  whom  Sumner  attacked  ; 
Davis,  of  Massachusetts ;  the  Dodges,  father  and 
son,  who  sat  for  Wisconsin  and  Iowa ;  and  the 
redoubtable  James  Shields,  who  started  to  fight  a 
duel  with  Lincoln — these  are  but  a  few  of  those 
who  held  high  inquest  over  the  state  of  the  Union 
and  made  the  Compromises. 

The  membership  of  the  House  was  less  distin- 
guished but  it  contained  many  men  of  first-rate 
abilities  who  were  later  to  become  known  to  fame. 

The  Senate  had  plenty  of  time  to  think  over  mat- 
ters while  the  House  spent  weeks  in  electing  a 
speaker.  When  the  President's  message  was  finally 
received  it  was  found  to  be  a  patriotic  document. 
Taylor  desired  peace  but  he  was  determined  to 


250  THOMAS  H.  BEIN^TON 

have  it  by  fighting  if  necessary  and  made  this  bold 
announcement.  He  recommended  the  admission  of 
California  as  a  free  state,  independent  of  any  other 
considerations.  This  was  the  chief  issue  of  the 
hour  and  on  it  Benton's  mind  was  long  made  up. 
In  a  sense  he  was  the  father  of  California.  He  had 
spoken  for  the  Pacific  coast  when  some  of  his  col- 
leagues were  mere  boys.  He  had  aided  his  son-in- 
law,  Fremont,  to  make  his  buccaneering  expedi- 
tion to  the  Southwest,  and  as  he  had  stood  by  the 
young  man  when  he  was  disgraced,  it  was  no  small 
joy  to  see  him  returning  as  one  of  the  new 
senators-elect.  If  the  California  case  had  been 
opposed  to  Benton's  ideas  of  legality  Fremont 
would  have  met  a  Eoman  antagonist  in  the  aged 
senator,  but  fortunately  they  were  at  this  time  in 
political  accord. 

Why  should  California  not  be  admitted,  asked 
Benton?  She  had  the  requisite  population  and 
was  rapidly  growing,  while  the  wealth  in  her  mines 
was  fabulous.  Slavery  was  not  wanted  by  the 
people,  and  the  system  could  not  have  been  made 
available  to  any  great  extent  even  if  desired.  Why 
not  admit  her  ? 

The  answer  of  Calhoun  and  his  associates  was 
that  it  was  robbery  of  the  South  to  make  Call- 


THE  COMPROMISES  OF  1850  251 

fornia  a  free  state  even  if  she  desired  to  be  free. 
Calhoun  had  personally  forced  the  Mexican  War 
for  the  express  purpose  of  slavery  extension  and 
did  not  propose  to  be  deprived  of  the  fruit.  More- 
over there  were  other  things  to  be  considered.  How 
about  the  territories  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico  (then 
including  Arizona)  1  How  about  the  claim  of  Texas 
to  a  vast  amount  of  territory  which  the  administra- 
tion had  not  allowed  ?  How  about  a  fugitive  slave 
law,  now  that  the  one  in  existence  had  been  ren- 
dered practically  nugatory  in  places  where  the 
local  opposition  to  slavery  was  strong  ?  Xo,  said 
Calhoun,  we  will  not  settle  California's  status  with- 
out considering  these  other  things. 

It  was  useless  for  Benton  to  talk  to  Calhoun  and 
he  found  the  new  school  of  Whigs,  soon  to  become 
the  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  not  much 
more  tractable.  They  wished  the  slave  trade  sup- 
pressed in  the  District  of  Columbia.  They  had  no 
desire  for  a  stringent  fugitive  slave  law  and  were 
opposed  to  any  extension  of  slavery  in  the  terri- 
tories where  the  evil  had  not  existed  previously, 
making  their  stand  upon  the  Wilmot  Proviso. 
N'evertheless  there  were  many  who  were  perturbed 
over  the  situation  and  eager  for  some  way  out  of 
danger.     It  was  to  Clay  that  all  looked  for  a  plan 


252  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

of  harmony.  His  long  experience  as  a  compro- 
miser was  such  that  if  he  could  not  solve  the  great 
problem,  all  were  willing  to  believe  it  impossible 
to  do  so. 

Late  in  January,  1850,  Clay  brought  forward  his 
plan,  after  he  had  consulted  with  Calhoun  and 
Webster  who  had  yielded  assent.  There  were 
''five  bleeding  wounds"  in  the  Eepublic  and  he 
proposed  to  dress  and  heal  them  in  this  fashion  : 

First.  California  to  be  admitted  with  her  free 
constitution. 

Second.  Territorial  governments  to  be  erected 
in  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  leaving  the  matter  of 
slavery  to  be  settled  at  the  time  of  admission  as 
States. 

Third.  Texas'  impossible  claims  to  be  bought 
off  with  millions  of  money. 

Fourth.  A  more  stringent  fugitive  slave  law 
under  federal  supervision  to  be  enacted ;  slavery 
not  to  be  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
without  the  consent  of  Maryland  and  Virginia. 

Fifth.  The  slave  trade  to  be  practically  abolished 
in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Upon  these  propositions  Clay  made  a  two  days' 
speech  which  was  perhaps  his  greatest  effort,  though 
a  dozen   orations   have   been   given  that  distinc- 


THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850  253 

tion.  The  Senate  was  crowded  to  hear  him.  The 
old  man  shook  off  his  weight  of  years  and  spoke  for 
hours  with  all  the  energy  and  abandon  of  youth,  all 
the  silvery  tones  of  his  manhood's  prime,  and  all 
that  depth  of  devotion  to  the  Union  which  was  the 
guiding  star  of  his  life.  Almost  half  a  century  be- 
fore he  had  entered  the  Senate,  the  youngest  man 
who  ever  sat  in  that  body.  ]N'ow  in  his  age  he  was 
beseeching  the  people  once  more  to  compose  their 
differences  and  live  in  peace.  His  eyes  gleamed 
with  unnatural  fire,  his  lips  seemed  touched  as  with 
coals  from  the  altar.  Men  wept  as  he  begged  and 
pleaded  with  them,  and  when  he  concluded  women 
rushed  in  and  smothered  him  with  caresses  and 
kisses.  This  was  one  of  the  most  effective  speeches 
ever  made  in  the  chamber.  It  brought  over  to  his 
side  many  who  wavered  and  who  in  the  end  made 
up  a  majority.  It  seemed  as  if  the  physician  had 
at  last  been  found  to  heal  the  wounds  and  men's 
hearts  were  beating  lighter,  even  if  there  were  mis- 
givings over  the  value  of  the  plan. 

Benton  was  not  in  the  least  deceived.  He  saw 
there  was  an  element  that  desired  secession  and 
would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  this  unless 
given  complete  control  of  the  government  in  per- 
petuity.    He  believed  the  Compromises  would  not 


254  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

satisfy  any  party  in  interest  and  was  convinced  that 
they  would  no  sooner  be  put  in  operation  than  fric- 
tion would  result.  In  his  first  speech  in  reply  to 
Clay  he  indulged  in  plain  speaking  and  no  little 
sarcasm.  What  he  predicted  came  to  pass  and 
some  of  his  words  deserve  to  be  remembered  : 

'^It  is  a  bill  of  thirty -nine  sections — forty,  save 
one — an  ominous  number  ;  and  which,  with  the  two 
little  bills  which  attend  it,  is  called  a  compromise, 
and  is  pressed  upon  us  as  a  remedy  for  the  national 
calamities.  Now,  all  this  labor  of  the  committee, 
and  all  this  remedy,  proceed  upon  the  assumption 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  in  a  miser- 
able, distracted  condition  ;  that  it  is  their  mission 
to  relieve  this  national  distress,  and  that  these  bills 
are  the  sovereign  remedy  for  that  purpose.  Now, 
in  my  opinion,  all  this  is  a  mistake,  both  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  country,  the  mission  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  the  ef&cacy  of  their  remedy.  I  do  not 
believe  in  this  misery,  and  distraction,  and  distress, 
and  strife,  of  the  people.  On  the  contrary,  I  be- 
lieve them  to  be  very  quiet  at  home,  attending  to 
their  crops,  such  of  them  as  do  not  mean  to  feed 
out  of  the  public  crib  ;  and  that  they  would  be 
perfectly  happy  if  the  politicians  would  only  per- 
mit them  to  think  so.     I  know  of  no  distress  in  the 


THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850  255 

country,  no  misery,  no  strife,  no  distraction,  none 
of  those  five  gaping  wounds  of  which  the  senator 
from  Kentucky  made  enumeration  on  the  five 
fingers  of  his  left  hand,  and  for  the  healing  of 
which,  all  together,  and  all  at  once,  and  not  one  at 
a  time,  like  the  little  Doctor  Taylor,  he  has  pro- 
vided this  capacious  plaster  in  the  shape  of  five  old 
bills  tacked  together.  I  believe  the  senator  and 
myself  are  alike,  in  this,  that  each  of  us  has  but 
five  fingers  on  the  left  hand  ;  and  that  may  account 
for  the  limitation  of  the  wounds.  When  the  fingers 
gave  out,  they  gave  out ;  and  if  there  had  been  five 
more  fingers,  there  might  have  been  more  wounds 
— as  many  as  fingers — and,  toes  also.  I  know 
nothing  of  all  these  'gaping  wounds,'  nor  of  any 
distress  in  the  country  since  we  got  rid  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  and  since  we  got  possession 
of  the  gold  currency.  Since  that  time  I  have  heard 
of  no  pecuniary  or  business  distress,  no  rotten  cur- 
rency, no  expansions  and  contractions,  no  deranged 
exchanges,  no  decline  of  public  stocks,  no  laborers 
begging  employment,  no  produce  rotting  upon  the 
hands  of  the  farmer,  no  property  sacrificed  at 
forced  sales,  no  loss  of  confidence,  no  three  per 
centum  a  month  interest,  no  call  for  a  bankrupt 
act.     Never  were  the  people — the  business  doing 


256  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

and  the  working  people — as  well  off  as  they  are  to- 
day. As  for  political  distress,  ^  it  is  all  in  my  eye.^ 
It  is  all  among  the  politicians.  Never  were  the 
political  blessings  of  the  country  greater  than  at 
present :  civil  and  religious  liberty  eminently  en- 
joyed J  life,  liberty,  and  property  protected ;  the 
North  and  the  South  returning  to  the  old  belief 
that  they  were  made  for  each  other  ;  and  peace  and 
plenty  reigning  throughout  the  land.  This  is  the 
condition  of  the  country — happy  in  the  extreme ; 
and  I  listen  with  amazement  to  the  recitals  which  I 
have  heard  on  this  floor  of  strife  and  contention, 
gaping  wounds  and  streaming  blood,  distress  and 
misery.  My  opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery 
dates  further  back  than  1844 — forty  years  further 
back  ;  and  as  this  is  a  suitable  time  for  a  general 
declaration,  and  a  sort  of  general  conscience  de- 
livery, I  will  say  that  my  opposition  to  it  dates 
from  1804,  when  I  was  a  student  at  law  in  the 
state  of  Tennessee,  and  studied  the  subject  of 
African  slavery  in  an  American  book — a  Virginia 
book — Tucker's  edition  of  '  Blackstone's  Commen- 
taries.' And  here  I  find  the  largest  objection  to 
the  extension  of  slavery — to  planting  it  in  new 
regions  where  it  does  not  now  exist — bestowing  it 
on  those  who  have  it  not.     The  incurability  of  the 


THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850  257 

evil  is  the  greatest  objection  to  the  extension  of 
slavery.  It  is  wrong  for  the  legislator  to  inflict  an 
evil  which  can  be  cured  :  how  much  more  to  inflict 
one  that  is  incurable,  and  against  the  will  of  the 
people  who  are  to  endure  it  forever  !  I  quarrel 
with  no  one  for  supposing  slavery  a  blessing :  I 
deem  it  an  evil  :  and  would  neither  adopt  it  nor 
impose  it  on  others.  Yet  I  am  a  slaveholder,  and 
among  the  few  members  of  Congress  who  hold 
slaves  in  this  District.  The  French  proverb  tells 
us  that  nothing  is  new  but  what  has  been  forgotten. 
So  of  this  objection  to  a  large  emancipation. 
Every  one  sees  now  that  it  is  a  question  of  races, 
involving  consequences  which  go  to  the  destruction 
of  one  or  the  other  :  it  was  seen  fifty  years  ago,  and 
the  wisdom  of  Virginia  balked  at  it  then.  It  seems 
to  be  above  human  wisdom.  But  there  is  a  wisdom 
above  human  !  and  to  that  we  must  look.  In  the 
meantime,  do  not  extend  the  evil.'^ 

It  was  a  terrible  blow  to  Benton  that  he  could 
find  few  to  agree  with  him.  He  complained  that 
every  one  seemed  blinded  to  the  truth.  When 
it  came  Calhoun's  turn  to  give  his  support  to 
the  Compromises,  Benton  watched  eagerly,  for  he 
felt  that  much  depended  on  his  exact  position. 
Calhoun,  now  on  the  brink  of  the  grave,  was  able 


258  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

to  appear  in  the  Senate,  but  obliged  to  have  a 
fellow  Senator  read  the  speech  he  had  prepared. 
He  sat  like  a  disembodied  spirit  reviewing  the 
deeds  of  the  flesh  as  he  watched  the  effect  of  his 
words  on  his  audience.  He  evidently  had  little 
faith  in  the  Compromises,  but  assented  to  them 
since  he  was  at  heart  loyal  to  the  Union,  or  pro- 
fessed to  be  so,  and  certainly  did  not  desire  war  to 
come  in  his  time.  It  was  a  dismal  wail  he  poured 
forth,  asserting  that  the  South  had  been  maltreated 
and  misused  and  that  before  long  self-preservation 
would  demand  a  complete  change  of  relations  be- 
tween the  two  sections. 

Calhoun  said  in  part : 

"  I  have.  Senators,  believed  from  the  first  that 
the  agitation  of  the  subject  of  slavery  would,  if  not 
prevented  by  some  timely  effective  measure,  end  in 
disunion.  The  agitation  has  been  permitted  to  pro- 
ceed, with  almost  no  attempt  to  resist  it,  until  it 
has  reached  a  period  when  it  can  no  longer  be  dis- 
guised or  denied  that  the  Union  is  in  danger." 

After  diagnosing  the  danger  and  attributing  all 
trouble  to  the  agitation  on  the  part  of  the  North 
begun  in  1835,  when  the  abolition  excitement  first 
became  prominent  in  New  England,  resulting  in 
riots  and  Southern  protests,  he  continued  ; 


THE  COMPROMISES  OF  1850  259 

"  It  [the  Union]  cannot  then  be  saved  by  eulogies 
on  it,  however  splendid  or  numerous.  The  cry  of 
*  Union,  Union,  the  glorious  Union,'  can  no  more 
prevent  disunion  than  the  cry  of  '  Health,  health, 
glorious  health,'  on  the  part  of  the  physician  can 
save  a  patient  from  dying."  And  further  on,  as  a 
reply  to  the  President's  repetition  of  Washington's 
farewell  address,  Calhoun  said  there  was  "nothing 
in  his  [Washington's]  history  to  deter  us  from 
seceding  from  the  Union  should  it  fail  to  fulfil  the 
objects  for  which  it  was  instituted."  Continuing, 
he  said:  '^Indeed,  as  events  are  now  moving,  it 
will  not  require  the  South  to  secede  to  dissolve  the 
Union." 

Benton  was  dismayed,  for  it  proved  to  him  what 
he  had  been  asserting  all  along  :  that  the  Compro- 
mises were  a  hollow  sham  ;  that  they  did  not  satisfy 
the  South,  which  felt  that  it  had  been  giving  up  too 
much,  and  certainly  would  not  satisfy  the  North, 
which  thought  it  was  being  deprived  of  its  rights. 
Benton  went  to  see  Calhoun  to  find  out  what  was 
the  new  adjustment  at  which  he  had  hinted,  and 
discovered  that  it  was  nothing  more  or  less  than  a 
scheme  for  the  election  of  two  presidents,  one  to  be 
chosen  by  the  free  and  the  other  by  the  slave  states. 
No  legislation  then  should  be  valid  unless  it  be 


260  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

signed  by  both  of  them.  Benton  felt  that  the  old 
man  must  be  in  his  dotage  to  make  such  an  extra- 
ordinary proposal  which  never  could  have  been 
adopted,  and  if  it  had  been,  would  have  broken 
down  at  the  first  trial.  In  a  few  days  Calhoun  was 
dead  and  his  plan  was  never  publicly  advocated. 

Webster  now  came  forward  to  pledge  his  ad- 
herence to  the  Compromises.  He  had  deliberated 
long  before  doing  so,  but  considered  them  essential 
to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  though  he  was 
obliged  to  violate  some  of  his  strongest  principles 
and  to  belie  much  of  his  career.  In  his  famous  7th 
of  March  speech  he  reached  his  political  nadir. 
Where  now  that  Olympian  voice  which  spoke  for 
the  Union  more  than  twenty  years  before  ?  Where 
now  that  confidence  in  the  people  and  the  demand 
for  ^^  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,"  as 
against  the  heresies  of  nullification  ?  Alas,  the 
godlike  Webster  had  changed.  He  had  become 
distrustful,  and  in  his  zeal  for  the  Compromises  he 
struck  a  blow  at  Xew  England  which  horrified  and 
pained  the  moral  element  beyond  expression,  call- 
ing forth  from  Whittier  his  famous  poem  entitled, 
^^Ichabod." 

Then  other  senators  rose  to  speak.  Each  man 
seemed  to  feel  that  the  Compromises  were  not  ex- 


THE  COMPROMISES  OF  1850  261 

actly  what  they  should  be  and  wished  for  some- 
thing else,  but  most  of  the  leaders  were  willing  to 
make  the  trial. 

Several  times  during  the  debate  Benton  came 
into  angry  collision  with  Clay  over  features  of  the 
bill.  Clay  charged  that  Benton  had  been  opposed 
in  the  previous  summer  to  the  admission  of  Cali- 
fornia, or  at  least  he  had  heard  so.  Benton  set 
him  right  on  this  matter,  but  not  until  much  bad 
temper  had  been  exhibited  on  both  sides.  Clay 
accused  Benton  of  trying  to  lecture  him  and  denied 
that  the  Missourian  was  a  fit  preceptor  or  that  he 
(Clay)  could  learn  anything  from  him.  The  state- 
ment produced  a  laugh  which  calmed  the  perturbed 
spirits  for  a  time.  Both  men  were  imperious,  dog- 
matic and  in  dead  earnest.  Clay  could  not  forgive 
Benton  his  victory  in  the  matter  of  the  bank  and 
Benton  could  not  but  have  been  envious  of  the 
wonderful  persuasive  powers  and  the  eloquence 
possessed  by  Clay. 

Later  in  the  debate  a  more  serious  encounter 
occurred.  Foote,  of  Mississippi,  though  Northern 
born,  was  the  greatest  fire-eater  in  the  South.  He 
was  a  small,  swaggering  man,  who  made  a  great 
deal  of  noise  in  debate  and  displayed  a  spirit  of  bra- 
vado that  disgusted  nearly  every  one  in  the  Senate. 


262  THOMAS  H.  BEKT0:N^ 

He  carried  a  pistol,  and  on  one  occasion  when  lie 
was  having  a  warm  altercation  with  Benton  the 
latter  advanced  toward  him.  Foote  believed,  or 
pretended  to  believe,  that  he  saw  Benton  put  his 
hand  in  his  pocket,  and  thereupon  drew  his  loaded 
weapon  on  the  Missourian.  This  was  the  greatest 
indignity  the  Senate  had  ever  known  and  a  tre- 
mendous/i^rore  ensued.  Benton  demanded  that  the 
coward  shoot,  asserting  that  he  was  not  afraid  of 
braggarts.  He  was  greatly  excited,  perhaps  un- 
necessarily so,  but  the  conduct  of  Foote  was 
despicable  and  Benton  was  determined  not  to  show 
the  white  feather.  Foote  was  compelled  to  apolo- 
gize, but  Benton  never  forgot  the  insult. 

Curiously  enough,  once  more  under  a  Whig 
administration,  Benton  was  the  chief  supporter  of 
the  President.  Taylor  had  set  his  face  against  the 
Compromises  and  urged  his  friends  to  stand  firm 
on  the  subject.  Benton  had  no  particular  love  for 
Taylor  as  an  individual,  but  greatly  admired  the 
patriotic  stand  he  had  taken  and  in  this  case  he 
was  supporting  him  against  the  leaders  of  his  own 
party.  Benton's  political  orphanage  was  now 
complete.  All  this  time  California  was  waiting 
and  found  little  consolation  in  the  fact  that  all  the 
sins  of  omission  and  commission  on  the  subject  of 


THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850  263 

slavery  as  viewed  by  Korth  and  South  were  to  be 
loaded  on  her  back.  Fremont  chafed  because  his 
term  was  short  and  in  the  end  he  served  only  a 
few  days.  In  Benton's  attempt  to  save  the  Union 
by  defending  the  laws,  his  warmest  ally  was 
Houston,  who  went  as  much  contrary  to  the  wishes 
of  the  Texans,  as  Benton  did  to  those  of  the 
Missourians.  Houston  was  a  man  of  much  the 
same  calibre  as  Benton  and  they  were  the  warmest 
friends.  Even  in  these  days  when  Houston  wrote 
to  Benton  he  always  signed  himself  ^'your  friend 
and  subaltern." 

To  perfect  the  bill.  Clay  had  secured  a  grand 
committee  of  the  Senate  of  thirteen  members, 
representing  numerically  but  not  otherwise  the 
original  thirteen  states.  They  reported  the  measure 
which  was  intolerably  long  and  contained  all  of 
Clay's  ^^ plasters."  It  soon  developed  that  while 
a  majority  favored  compromise,  the  bill  could  not 
pass  and  even  if  it  did,  it  seemed  certain  that 
Taylor  would  veto  it.  That  contingency  was  re- 
moved by  his  sudden  death,  which  for  a  time 
caused  the  suspension  of  aU  business.  Fillmore, 
who  became  President,  was  agreeable  to  the  Com- 
promises and  the  debate  continued.  When  the 
voting  began  the  sections  one  after  another  were 


264  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

rejected  until  there  was  nothing  left  but  a  bill 
for  the  erection  of  a  territorial  government  in 
Utah.  Clay's  work  seemed  a  failure  and  the  old 
man  retired  in  disgust  to  the  seashore  where  he  en- 
deavored to  compose  his  mind  over  the  disaster. 

Benton  had  early  observed  that  the  bills  could 
pass  separately  if  not  joined  together,  and  that  was 
the  plan  finally  adopted.  California  was  admitted 
under  her  constitution  by  a  decisive  vote.  Ten 
senators  immediately  offered  a  protest  which  they 
wished  to  have  placed  on  the  journal.  This  paper 
expressed  disapprobation  of  what  had  been  done 
and  predicted  that  the  country  would  soon  be  dis- 
membered if  the  Senate  persisted  in  such  legisla- 
tion. The  chief  grievance  of  the  protesters  was 
that  California  had  not  been  divided  on  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  and  the  southern  half 
given  to  the  slavery-men. 

Benton  immediately  attacked  not  only  the  matter 
of  the  protest  but  the  proposal  to  spread  it  on  the 
records.  He  now  had  the  Southerners  in  a  corner. 
For  years  Calhoun  had  been  contending  that  slavery 
was  a  national  institution  concerning  which  Con- 
gress had  no  right  to  legislate ;  that  it  must  exist  in 
all  national  territory  and  when  statehood  was 
reached  the  people  could  choose  for  themselves, 


THE  COMPEOMISES  OF  1850  265 

whether  they  would  have  it  or  not.  He  evidently 
forgot  that  he  himself  in  his  earlier  years  had  ad- 
mitted the  power  of  Congress  to  act  in  the  matter 
and  that  he  had  on  many  occasions  in  the  Senate 
and  in  the  cabinet  advocated  this  view.  If  he  had 
not  forgotten  it,  he  ignored  his  former  position  and 
had  now  educated  a  new  school  to  his  later  beliefs. 
And  here  were  his  disciples  complaining  that  Con- 
gress had  not  done  the  very  thing  they  had  so 
strenuously  asserted  it  had  no  power  to  do.  Davis 
had  announced  early  in  the  debate  that  slavery 
was  supported  by  the  laws  of  God  and  man  and 
was  sanctioned  by  the  Bible  ;  that  he  would  take 
the  Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific  and 
not  an  inch  less.  He  was  obliged  to  take  less 
but  he  signed  the  protest  which  was  nothing  else 
than  a  threat  to  break  up  the  Union. 

Benton^  s  speech  was  in  part  against  the  legality 
of  such  a  protest  and  in  it  he  gave  the  Senate  the 
benefit  of  his  erudition,  quoting  copiously  from 
ancient  precedents  and  citing  the  uniform  practice 
of  the  British  House  of  Lords.  When  he  came  to 
a  denunciation  of  that  portion  of  the  paper  which 
contained  a  threat  of  disunion  he  rose  to  heights  of 
real  eloquence.     Benton  said  in  part : 

"It  is  afflicting  enough  to  witness  such  things 


266  THOMAS  H.  BENTOK 

out  of  doors  ;  but  to  enter  a  solemn  protest  on  our 
journals,  looking  to  the  contingent  dissolution  of 
the  Union,  and  that  for  our  own  acts — for  the  acts 
of  a  majority — to  call  upon  us  of  the  majority  to  re- 
ceive our  own  indictment,  and  enter  it,  without 
answer,  upon  our  own  journals — is  certainly  going 
beyond  all  the  other  signs  of  the  times,  and  taking 
a  most  alarming  step  in  the  progress  which  seems 
to  be  making  in  leading  to  a  dreadful  catastrophe. 
^Dissolution^  to  be  entered  on  our  journal !  What 
would  our  ancestors  have  thought  of  it?  The 
paper  contains  an  enumeration  of  what  it  char- 
acterizes as  unconstitutional,  unjust,  and  oppress- 
ive conduct  on  the  part  of  Congress  against  the 
South,  which,  if  persisted  in,  must  lead  to  a  dis- 
solution of  the  Union,  and  names  the  admission  of 
California  as  one  of  the  worst  of  these  measures. 
I  cannot  consent  to  place  that  paper  on  our  jour- 
nals. I  protest  against  it — protest  in  the  name  of 
my  constituents.  I  have  made  a  stand  against  it. 
It  took  me  by  surprise ;  but  my  spirit  rose  and 
fought.  I  deem  it  my  sacred  duty  to  resist  it — to 
resist  the  entrance  upon  our  journal  of  a  paper 
hypothetically  justifying  disunion.  If  defeated, 
and  the  paper  goes  on  the  journal,  I  still  wish  the 
present  age  and  posterity  to  see  that  it  was  not 


THE  COMPROMISES  OF  1850  267 

without  a  struggle — not  without  a  stand  against  the 
portentous  measure — a  stand  which  should  mark 
one  of  those  eras  in  the  history  of  nations  from 
which  calamitous  events  flow.'' 

The  protest  was  not  received.  It  must  have  been 
a  malicious  joy  to  Benton  that  Atchison,  his  col- 
league in  the  Senate,  who  opposed  him  in  all  mat- 
ters concerning  the  extension  of  slavery,  had  signed 
the  paper  and  was  not  allowed  to  see  it  go  on  record. 

The  next  bill  in  the  group  to  receive  serious  con- 
sideration was  the  fugitive  slave  act.  Benton's 
plan  was  to  make  a  few  amendments  to  the  existing 
law  in  order  to  give  jurisdiction  to  the  federal  au- 
thorities ;  but  the  radicals  insisted  on  a  new  law 
and  in  the  end  it  satisfied  no  one,  as  in  fact  such  a 
measure  could  not  under  the  conditions  which  then 
existed  and  which  were  presently  to  become  so 
much  worse.  Benton  made  an  effort  to  have  the 
bill  perfected  but  it  failed  to  suit  him  and  he  did 
not  vote  for  or  against  it,  in  which  position  he  was 
joined  by  twenty  other  senators. 

The  rest  of  the  compromise  bills  passed  without 
much  trouble  and  were  signed  by  the  Whig  presi- 
dent who  thereby  made  his  renomination  impossible. 

This  practically  ended  Benton's  career  in  the 
Senate.     During  the  next  short  session  which  closed 


268  THOMAS  H.  BEXTO:^^ 

Ms  term,  little  of  importance  was  done  but  already 
lie  had  seen  enough  signs  to  know  that  the  Com- 
promises were  not  worthy  of  the  name  and  that 
they  were  certain  to  fail  in  establishing  that  per- 
manent basis  of  peace  which  their  authors  fondly 
believed  they  would.  He  derided  them  as  no  com- 
promises at  all  but  surrenders,  and  insisted  that 
disunion  was  coming  unless  the  people  would  arouse 
themselves  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  He 
found  little  consolation  anywhere.  His  was  a  voice 
crying  in  the  wilderness  and  when  he  left  the  Sen- 
ate it  was  with  a  feeling  of  despondency  that  grew 
as  he  saw  the  plans  of  the  South  develop. 


CHAPTEE  XIII 

MISSOURI  REPUDIATES  BENTON 

There  is  one  more  act  of  Benton's  life  in  Con- 
gress to  which  attention  must  be  particularly  di- 
rected. No  sooner  had  California  fallen  into  our 
hands,  owing  largely  to  his  son-in-law's  aggressive 
action,  an  event  which  he  said  would  have  occurred 
regardless  of  the  Mexican  War,  than  Benton  began 
planning  for  transportation  facilities.  Though  a 
foe  of  marine  subsidies,  he  saw  that  here  was  a  case 
in  which  federal  aid  must  be  given.  He  was  largely 
responsible  for  establishing  the  pony  express  which 
at  first  was  looked  upon  as  a  chimera  ;  then  the  tel- 
egraph line  ;  and  still  more  important  the  railway 
running  directly  to  the  coast,  of  which  idea  he 
was  the  real  originator.  This  scheme  was  too  large 
for  the  people  and  many  of  his  best  friends  used  to 
sigh  mournfully  and  lament  his  declining  intel- 
lectual powers.  It  was  regretted,  too,  that  his  great 
career  was  to  be  blighted  by  his  continual  advocacy 
of  a  project  which  was  deemed  too  ridiculous  for 


270  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

consideration — and  this  within  twenty  years  of  the 
completion  of  the  line. 

Indeed,  if  we  consider  the  character  of  the  op- 
position he  met  at  the  time,  it  would  seem  that 
he  was  looked  upon  as  a  mountebank.  During 
his  first  term  in  the  Senate  things  were  said  concern- 
ing his  attitude  which  would  have  deeply  wounded  a 
less  sensitive  man.  K  a  Senator  to-day  should  an- 
nounce that  Alaska  is  destined  to  have  a  population 
of  thirty  millions  and  to  become  an  important  factor 
in  American  civilization,  he  would  make  far  less 
of  a  sensation  than  did  Benton  eighty  years  ago. 
The  statesmen  at  Washington  looked  upon  him, 
not  as  a  seer  and  prophet,  but  simply  as  one  who 
desired  to  aggrandize  the  West  at  the  expense  of 
the  rest  of  the  country.  All  his  talk  about  civili-y^ 
zation  west  of  the  Eocky  Mountains  was  considered 
rhodomontade  for  home  consumption.  They  had 
found  by  experience  that  Benton  had  an  astonish- 
ing way  of  opening  the  public  purse  for  the  benefit 
of  his  section,  and  they  thought  that  he  had  a  purely 
personal  interest  in  the  discussion.  This  was  wrong. 
Although  Benton  as  a  rule  had  as  little  of  the  imag- 
inative quality  as  any  Senator,  except  when  he  al- 
lowed it  to  run  riot  through  the  classics,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  did  foresee  the  future  of  the  West  as  no 


MISSOUEI  REPUDIATES  BENTON      271 

other  man  in  the  country.  He  was  no  wild  enthu- 
siast  or  selfish  sectionalist  j  he  was  a  tireless  student 
and  a  most  intelligent  observer  of  events.  He  had 
been  studying  the  railway  question  since  the  first 
locomotive  was  used.  He  had  been  thinking  of  the 
Pacific  coast  and  fighting  for  it  when  most  of  his 
contemporaries  were  wearied  at  the  very  mention 
of  the  subject  and  devoutly  wished  that  Oregon  and 
Benton  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  Pacific.  At  a 
time  when  there  were  no  diplomatic  relations  be- 
tween this  country  and  the  Far  East,  and  when  we 
had  only  claims  to  Oregon  and  not  a  port  on  the 
Pacific,  he  had  the  courage  to  direct  the  minds  of 
the  people  to  that  section  and,  while  pointing  west- 
ward, to  make  the  statement  which  sounded  so  ^ 
visionary  in  the  ears  of  his  hearers  ; 

^' There  is  the  East :  there  is  the  road  to  India.'* 
It  is  difficult  to  say  when  the  thought  of  a  trans- 
continental railway  first  publicly  appeared,  but  it 
did  not  assume  a  definite  form  until  after  the  Mex- 
ican War,  when  we  gained  so  much  new  territory 
and  discovered  that  it  was  rich  in  gold.  Then  the 
subject  was  talked  about  with  enthusiasm  but  with 
very  little  practical  sense.  Indeed  for  some  years 
it  was  believed  to  be  impossible  to  surmount  the 
Rockies,  and  the  Gadsden  purchase  of  a  strip  along 


272  THOMAS  H.  BEKTOl^ 

the  New  Mexico- Arizona  border  was  made  simply 
to  provide  a  route  for  a  railroad  below  the  mountain 
ranges. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  engineers  in- 
sisted that  a  road  could  be  built  straight  across  the 
country  and  Benton  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  con- 
verted to  that  view.  He  was  anxious  to  get  at  the 
exact  facts,  and  in  the  end  he  knew  more  about  the 
subject  than  any  one  else.  From  his  son-in-law, 
Fremont,  he  learned  a  great  deal  concerning  the 
topographical  features  of  the  country  and  he  was 
the  first  to  insist  that  the  route  should  be  to  the 
North,  following  the  path  of  the  buffalo.  He  said 
that  the  buffalo  was  the  best  engineer,  because  he 
found  that  the  great  herds  when  going  North  for 
the  winter  crossed  the  upper  passes,  following  the 
line  of  least  resistance,  and  he  insisted  that  their 
route  be  followed.  If  his  advice  had  been  taken 
millions  which  have  since  been  expended  in  recti- 
fying early  mistakes  might  have  been  saved. 

Benton  never  believed  in  direct  government  aid 
for  the  railroad.  His  idea  was  that  a  land  grant 
would  be  sufficient,  and  in  his  day  indeed  there  was 
little  thought  of  construction  on  any  other  terms. 
He  proposed  to  give  the  road  a  liberal  right  of  way 
and  his  first  speech  on  the  subject  dealt  with  the 


MISSOUEI  EEPUDIATES  BENTON      273 

value  of  the  grant  to  the  building  corporation.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  this  scheme  was  chimerical  and  the 
road  was  never  built  until  the  nation  had  furnished 
practically  all  the  funds  in  addition  to  a  much 
more  liberal  land  grant  than  Benton  had  suggested, 
and  thirty  years  elapsed  after  the  completion  of  the 
work  before  the  government's  money  was  repaid. 

Benton  took  a  natural  coui^se  in  all  the  debates 
which  preceded  construction.  There  were  many 
interests  to  be  conserved.  Chicago  wished  what- 
ever trade  advantages  might  come  from  the  con- 
struction of  the  line,  while  Benton  was  naturally  anx- 
ious that  St.  Louis  should  maintain  its  supremacy. 
It  happened  in  the  end  that  no  government  aid  was 
extended  to  a  road  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  the  terminus  was  fixed  at  Omaha ;  but  not 
until  Benton  had  done  his  best  in  behalf  of  St. 
Louis  and  had  pointed  out  that  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kaw  would  be  built  one  of  the  greatest  cities  in  the 
country,  a  prediction  which  Kansas  City  to-day 
verifies. 

Benton  went  into  the  railroad  question  with  that 
determination  and  energy  which  characterized  him 
in  all  emergencies  in  his  career.  He  talked  re- 
peatedly to  the  Senate  and  to  any  individual  who 
would  listen  to  him.     He  spoke  in  St.  Louis  and 


274  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

other  parts  of  Missouri  on  the  subject.  There  is 
some  reason  for  believing  that  he  hoped  to  turn  the 
thoughts  of  the  people  from  slavery  and  allied 
questions  to  that  of  Western  expansion,  but  in  this 
he  failed. 

If  it  be  asked  exactly  what  Benton  accomplished 
in  legislating  for  the  transcontinental  railway,  the 
answer  may  do  him  grave  injustice.  He  intro- 
duced many  bills  looking  to  surveys  and  govern- 
ment aid  and  spoke  often  on  the  subject.  It  can 
be  fairly  stated  that  he  was  responsible  for  the  first 
surveys,  though  he  left  the  Senate  before  anything 
of  importance  was  accomplished. 

His  speeches  on  this  subject  are  entertaining. 
They  are  florid,  and  full  of  what  he  considered 
poetic  fancy  and  prophecy,  but  one  can  see  that  he 
understood  the  coming  glories  of  the  far  West  bet- 
ter than  any  of  his  contemporaries,  and  if  the 
American  people  forgot  much  of  his  language, 
they  at  least  remembered  his  general  position. 
When  after  the  war  the  government  took  up  the 
subject  earnestly,  nearly  every  speaker  in  Congress 
referred  again  and  again  to  his  words.  It  was  laid 
up  against  him,  it  is  true,  that  the  route  of  the 
buffalo  which  he  proposed  was  not  feasible,  since  it 
ran  through  a  country  where  there  was  too  much 


MISSOUEI  REPUDIATES  BENTON      275 

winter.  Benton  had  sharply  criticised  the  engi- 
neers who  had  selected  the  central  route,  declaring, 
as  proved  true,  that  it  crossed  a  wilderness  of  alkali 
beds,  while  his  own  was  not  only  through  the  best 
country  in  the  West,  but  led  directly  to  the  port 
that  was  certain  to  become  a  great  station  on  the 
road  to  China.  Even  at  a  much  later  day  it  was 
said  that  no  wheat  could  be  raised  in  the  latitude 
of  the  Dakotas  as  it  was  too  far  north,  a  statement 
that  sounds  strange  in  face  of  the  fact  that  millions 
of  acres  are  being  bought  by  Americans  much  far- 
ther north  in  Canada  and  a  transcontinental  rail- 
way is  being  constructed  still  nearer  the  Arctic 
Circle  than  the  Canadian  Pacific.  Here  was  another 
example  of  the  fact  that  Benton  had  studied  actual 
conditions  and  knew  whereof  he  spoke,  while  others 
who  hastily  glanced  at  the  subject  called  him  a 
dreamer  of  wild  and  mystical  views. 

It  was  during  the  Mexican  War  that  he  found  the 
sentiment  of  Missouri  drifting  farther  and  farther 
away  from  him,  and  into  the  control  of  the  nulli- 
fiers  and  the  disciples  of  Calhoun  who  were  soon 
to  become  open  secessionists.  Atchison,  his  col- 
league, had  become  the  dominant  power  in  the 
state.  They  differed  radically  on  every  point  con- 
nected with   the  slavery  question,   and  met  each 


276  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

other  in  Missouri  as  the  leaders  of  two  distinctly 
antagonistic  factions. 

The  crisis  came  when  Claiborne  F.  Jackson 
(later  the  governor  who  tried  to  carry  the  state  into 
secession)  offered  in  the  state  senate  a  set  of  resolu- 
tions which  declared  slavery  to  be  a  national  insti- 
tution. In  effect  they  were  an  endorsement  of  nulli- 
fication and  of  secession,  having  no  other  purport 
than  to  prepare  the  people  of  Missouri  for  the 
separation  that  was  already  contemplated.  These 
resolutions  were  passed  and  became  the  dominating 
issue  in  state  politics.  They  were  practically  of 
the  same  tenor  as  the  resolutions  which  Calhoun 
had  offered  in  the  United  States  Senate  not  long 
before  and  which  Benton  had  opposed  with  all  the 
earnestness  of  his  nature.  Calhoun  seemed  to  be 
surprised  at  this  opposition  and  said  he  had  ex- 
pected Benton,  coming  as  he  did  from  a  slave- 
holding  state,  to  support  the  resolutions.  Benton 
replied  that  it  was  impossible  for  Calhoun  to  have 
expected  anything  of  the  sort.  ''Then,"  said  Cal- 
houn, ' '  I  shall  know  where  to  find  the  gentleman. ' ' 
To  which  Benton  replied  in  words  that  ought  to  be 
upon  his  tombstone : 

''I  shall  be  found  in  the  right  place — on  the  side 
of  my  country  and  the  Union." 


MISSOURI  REPUDIATES  BENTON      277 

These  so-called  Resolutions  of  1847  did  not  pass 
the  Senate  but  they  formed  a  kind  of  Magna  Charta 
for  the  secessionists  and  it  was  of  them  that  Benton 
remarked  : 

''As  Sylla  saw  in  the  young  Csesar  many  Ma- 
rinses,  so  do  I  see  in  the  Calhoun  resolutions  many 
nullifications.'^ 

Benton  took  the  stump  in  Missouri  against  the 
Claiborne  Jackson  resolutions.  He  denounced  nul- 
lification and  secession  and  was  firm  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union  at  any  cost.  When  the  elec- 
tions were  over,  it  was  found  that  the  legislature  was 
divided  into  three  tolerably  equal  groups  :  Benton- 
ians,  anti-Bentonians  (both  Democratic  factions)  and 
Whigs.  The  contest  for  the  senatorship  was  long 
and  stubborn.  The  two  wings  of  the  Democracy 
fought  each  other  more  bitterly  than  they  did  the 
Whigs,  and  in  the  end  members  of  both  factions 
voted  for  Geyer,  the  Whig  candidate,  and  elected 
him. 

Benton  did  not  consider  this  defeat  irretrievable. 
He  had  no  notion  of  giving  up  public  life  and  be- 
lieved that  in  the  next  contest  he  could  regain  his 
seat,  in  which  opinion  he  was  mistaken.  He  took 
ill-fortune  philosophically  and  was  soon  elected  to 
represent  a  St.  Louis  district  in  the  House,  though 


278  THOMAS  H.  BE:N"T0N 

he  failed  of  re-election  because  he  would  not  make 
terms  with  the  Know  Nothings  who  were  then 
active  factors  in  politics.  Benton  did  not  believe 
in  their  policies  or  their  methods  and  once  more 
faced  defeat  rather  than  compromise  his  own  views. 
In  fact,  by  this  time  Benton  was  scarcely  a  Mis- 
sourian.  He  had  been  in  the  state  very  little  in  the 
last  ten  years  of  his  service  in  the  Senate  and  had 
gotten  out  of  touch  with  the  people.  The  rising 
generation  had  not  the  reverence  or  respect  for  him 
that  their  fathers  had  had. 

Benton  was  sadly  missed  in  the  Senate.  Indeed 
he  had  been  there  so  long  that  it  seemed  impossible 
there  could  be  a  Senate  without  him.  Even  those 
who  had  been  most  bitter  in  their  denunciation  of 
him  and  his  views,  greatly  regretted  the  turn  of 
fate  which  lost  him  the  seat  he  had  so  highly 
honored.  Like  many  other  men  he  was  most 
appreciated  when  he  was  gone.  He  was  a  main- 
stay for  many  of  the  Senators.  He  would  do  the 
work  for  them  with  alacrity.  If  any  difficult  task, 
involving  great  research,  were  necessary,  the  more 
indolent  members  cheerfully  left  it  to  Benton,  who 
never  failed  them  and  whose  reports  had  the  au- 
thority of  law. 

Missouri  never  dishonored  herself  so  much  as  in 


MISSOUEI  EEPUDIATES  BENTON      279 

dispensing  with  the  services  of  her  greatest  citizen, 
a  fact  which  she  understood  when  it  was  too  late. 
Benton  could  not  have  prevented  the  war.  His 
work  was  done.  But  he  could  have  been  of  great 
assistance  in  the  trying  days  before  Sumter  fell,  and 
there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  he  would  have 
survived  until  that  period  had  Missouri  continued 
to  delight  to  honor  him. 

One  of  his  last  official  duties  in  the  Senate  was  to 
welcome  the  young  Sumner,  who  had  been  chosen 
from  Massachusetts  as  a  Free  Soiler.  Benton  warmly 
grasped  the  young  man's  hand,  but  assured  him 
that  he  had  come  to  the  Senate  too  late.  All  the 
great  issues  and  all  the  great  men  were  gone  ;  there 
was  nothing  left  but  snarling  over  slavery,  and  no 
chance  whatever  for  a  career.  There  seems  a  little 
of  the  spirit  of  bravado,  and  perhaps  a  tinge  of 
bitterness,  about  this,  coming  as  it  did  when  he 
was  just  passing  off  the  stage.' 

His  single  term  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives 
was  notable  because  of  the  fight  he  conducted  un- 
availingly  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise. If  he  was  committed  to  one  thing  more 
than  another,  it  was  this  Compromise,  to  effect 
which  he  had  done  so  much  just  before  his  en- 
'  Blaine's  "Twenty  Years  in  Congress." 


280  THOMAS  H.  BEKTON 

trance  to  the  Senate,  and  which  he  had  striven  to 
maintain  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  It  was 
in  the  first  flush  of  Democratic  triumph  after  the 
election  of  Pierce  and  the  defeat  of  Scott  and  the 
Whig  party  that  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  determined  upon.  For  many  facts 
here  given  the  writer  is  indebted  to  several  in- 
formants who  were  in  Washington  at  the  time,  and 
who  were  not  only  Benton's  personal  friends,  but 
constant  witnesses  of  the  scenes  which  were  enacted 
in  those  stormy  days. 

When  the  motion  was  introduced,  Benton  raged 
like  a  lion.  He  was  easily  the  most  conspicuous 
man  in  the  House.  Now  well  past  seventy,  his 
leonine  form  made  an  impression  not  only  upon 
visitors  but  upon  members  of  all  parties.  He  was 
particularly  careful  of  his  dress  and  loved  the 
admiration  that  was  unsparingly  bestowed  upon 
him.  He  still  expected  to  return  to  the  Senate,  and 
looked  upon  his  experience  in  the  lower  House  as  a 
rather  amusing  incident  in  his  career.  Whenever 
it  was  known  that  Benton  would  speak — and  he 
spoke  often — the  galleries  were  crowded.  With  a 
voice  growing  weak  with  age,  but  with  energy 
unabated,  the  old  parliamentary  warrior  fought  to 
the  last.     He  even  exaggerated  some  of  his  manner- 


MISSOUEI  EEPUDIATES  BENTON      281 

isms  and  in  fact  almost  essayed  the  role  of  an 
actor  as  he  raged  up  and  down  the  aisles,  or  paced 
the  open  space  in  front  of  the  speaker's  desk.  In 
these  later  years  his  wit  was  more  acute,  his  humor 
more  genial.  Eegardless  of  party  affiliations,  the 
members  gathered  around  to  hear  him.  Some  of 
them  had  not  been  born  when  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  passed.  Most  of  those  reckoned  to  be 
his  contemporaries  were  boys  in  school  when  he  was 
already  a  Senator.  He  was  wont  to  emphasize  this 
fact,  and  it  made  him  none  the  less  popular.  Mem- 
bers applauded  him  to  the  echo,  laughed  at  his  wit, 
turned  pale  under  his  invective — for  on  the  matter 
of  the  repeal,  his  language  was  vitriolic  and  his 
denunciation  terrible. 

Now  that  the  members  of  the  triumvirate  were  all 
dead,  Benton  was  considered  the  most  remarkable 
man  in  either  branch  of  Congress,  and  had  he  for  a 
moment  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  he  still  might 
have  died  in  harness.  But  he  was  as  implacable 
toward  the  Know  Nothings  who  ended  his  career  in 
the  House  as  toward  the  pro -Southern  men  who  un- 
seated him  in  the  Senate,  and  so  he  lost  his  office. 
This  would  have  discouraged  most  other  men,  but 
Benton  resolved  on  one  last  effort.  He  still  believed 
that  Missouri  would  be  true  to  the  Union  and  in 


282  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

1856  ran  for  governor  on  an  independent  Demo- 
cratic ticket.  In  spite  of  his  great  age  and  de- 
clining health,  he  made  a  tremendously  active 
campaign,  speaking  in  every  section  of  the  state, 
sounding  aloud  his  doctrines  of  loyalty  to  the 
Union  and  denouncing  nullifiers  and  secessionists 
unsparingly.  It  was  in  vain  ;  the  people  no  longer 
knew  his  voice  or  heeded  it. 

Thus  ended  the  political  career  of  Thomas  H. 
Benton.  No  more  independent  spirit  ever  sat  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  none  that  was 
truer  to  duty  and  none  having  in  general  a  better 
comprehension  of  public  affairs. 


CHAPTEE  XIY 

FRIENDSHIPS  AND  CHARACTERISTICS 

In  spite  of  his  long  public  life,  Benton  was  not  a 
man  of  many  warm  friendships.  His  austerity  of 
life,  his  devotion  to  study  and  in  the  latter  part  of 
his  career,  his  wife's  illness,  kept  him  from  that 
close  touch  with  men  which  others  of  his  day  en- 
joyed. Moreover  he  had  an  independence  of  spirit 
which,  joined  to  his  vanity,  made  him  unapproach- 
able except  after  long  acquaintance.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  when  old  friends  were  gone,  he  made 
few  new  ones,  though  maintaining  an  air  of  affa- 
bility toward  all. 

In  the  beginning  of  his  career  he  seems  to  have 
been  drawn  close  to  John  Eandolph,  of  Eoanoke,  on 
the  basis  probably  that  difference  in  characteristics 
leads  to  mutual  appreciation.  The  most  brilliant 
part  of  Eandolph' s  career  had  passed  before  Benton 
came  on  the  stage,  but  the  old  man  seemed  so  much 
drawn  to  the  younger  one  that,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
desired  Benton  to  second  him  in  the  duel  with  Clay, 
though  their  acquaintance  must  have  been  brief. 
It  was  becoming  more  and  more  evident  to  all  that 


284  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

there  were  times  wlien  Eandolph  was  mentally  un- 
balanced and  on  the  occasion  of  a  personal  call, 
Benton  resolved  to  sound  him  to  see  if  he  had  any 
suspicion  of  such  a  thing.  Eandolph  was  very  fond 
of  quoting  a  quatrain  dealing  with  imbecility  and 
Benton  asked  him  if  the  lines  could  possibly  have 
any  application  to  himself.  The  elder  replied:  ^'  I 
have  lived  in  di-ead  of  insanity."  This  was  enough 
to  give  Benton  a  cue  to  what  he  had  long  suspected 
of  the  man  of  whom  it  was  said  on  one  occasion : 
^^He  has  wasted  enough  intellectual  jewelry  this 
evening  to  equip  many  speakers  for  great  orations." 
Notwithstanding  the  political  differences  between 
himself  and  Eufus  King,  last  of  the  original  Feder- 
alists, Benton  greatly  admired  him.  He  thought 
that  he  paid  much  more  attention  to  the  aged  man's 
advice  than  his  career  indicates.  Benton  was  at- 
tached to  the  old  social  order  and  though  he  always 
voted  against  the  Federalists  he  seems  to  have 
greatly  respected  many  of  them.  Another  subject 
of  his  admiration  was  Macon,  ^Hhe  last  of  the 
Eomans,"  whose  career  was  perhaps  the  longest  of 
any  man  who  ever  sat  in  Congress.  Jefferson  Ben- 
ton met  but  once,  when  he  went  to  Monticello  for 
the  purpose,  coming  away  with  an  enlarged  opin- 
ion of  the  man.     On  that  occasion  they  were  dis- 


FRIENDSHIPS  AND  CHARACTEEISTICS    285 

cussing  internal  improvements  and  Benton  was  ask- 
ing advice  about  a  survey  for  a  road  through 
Georgia  to  Louisiana.  Jefferson  told  him  that  such 
a  survey  had  been  made  and  indicated  where  in 
Washington  he  would  find  a  map  of  it.  On  return- 
ing, Benton  found  it  just  where  Jefferson  had  said  it 
was,  with  the  result  that  a  large  expense  and  much 
time  was  saved  to  the  government. 

Though  professing  to  accept  the  political  philos- 
ophy of  Jefferson,  Benton  deviated  from  it  very 
widely.     It  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  he 
was  a  Jacksonian  in  politics,  though  he  would  have 
preferred  the  statement  that  Jackson  was  a  Benton- 
ian.     The  intimacy  between  these  two  leaders  of  the 
new  Democracy  was  not  so  close  as  one  might  im- 
agine.    Benton  was  no  sycophant,  seldom  went  to 
the  White  House  unless  asked  to  do  so  and  though 
he  fought  Jackson's  battles,  it  was  not  so  much  be- 
cause they  were  Jackson's  as  because  he  made  them 
his  own.     It  appears  that  they  did  not  confer  very 
freely  on  public  matters,— not  so  much  as  Ben- 
ton would  have  desired  at  some  times  ;  but  this  was 
probably  due  to  the  temperaments  of  the  two  men. 
Benton  could  not  belong  to  any  man's  ^'Kitchen 
Cabinet"  and  when  he  acted  in  emergencies  it  was 
largely  on  his  own  initiative.     He  fought  for  years 


286  THOMAS  H.  BEIs^TON 

for  the  expunging  act  and  his  victory  touched  ' '  Old 
Hickory"  deeply;  but  he  seldom  sent  for  Benton 
to  consult  him  on  public  matters  of  grave  impor- 
tance, and  apparently  never  showed  him  his  an- 
nual messages  before  forwarding  them  to  Con- 
gress, since  Benton  frequently  mentions  the  omission. 

Benton  did  not  care  for  mere  show  of  power.  He 
desired  the  power  itself  and  this  he  exercised  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate.  He  was  many  times  offered  cab- 
inet positions  by  Jackson  and  other  presidents  but, 
though  he  would  have  made  an  excellent  executive 
officer,  he  constantly  refused.  Even  when  the  pres- 
idency was  dangled  before  his  eyes  he  declined  to 
consider  himself  in  connection  with  the  office.  He 
seldom  attended  public  dinners,  which  were  more 
of  an  institution  then  than  now.  Clay  delighted  to 
be  dined  and  to  be  called  upon  to  speak.  Benton 
usually  declined  in  a  letter  which  expressed  his 
views  with  more  force  than  good  diction.  His 
aversion  to  attentions  of  this  kind  was  proverbial 
and  this  trait  served  to  estrange  him  sometimes 
from  those  whom  he  might  better  have  sought  to 
propitiate. 

His  relations  with  the  members  of  the  triumvirate 
varied  from  time  to  time.  Sometimes  he  was  on 
terms  of  the  warmest  intimacy  with  Clay  and  his 


FEIENDSHIPS  AND  CHARACTERISTICS    287 

family.  There  had  been  an  estrangement  between 
them  for  a  while  previous  to  the  duel  with  Randolph, 
and  the  night  before  the  meeting  Benton  went  to  see 
Clay  in  the  hope  that  something  might  arise  to  make 
an  accommodation  possible.  Clay  received  him 
kindly  and  in  the  presence  of  his  family  they  dis- 
cussed matters  of  general  import,  but  no  oi^ening 
came  as  Benton  had  hoped,  and  he  went  to  his  home 
saddened  over  the  prospect  of  seeing  Clay  fall  the 
next  day. 

When  the  fight  over  the  bank  came  on,  Benton 
and  Clay  exchanged  many  bitter  words  and  at 
times  came  almost  to  blows ;  but  after  Clay  made 
his  so-called  farewell  speech  in  1842,  there  was  a 
restoration  of  good  feeling.  That  speech  was  one 
of  the  most  notable  in  the  annals  of  the  Senate 
and  at  its  conclusion  many  members  were  in  tears. 
Benton  dryly  remarked  that  he  thought  there  was 
only  one  man  in  the  world  who  could  successfully 
make  such  a  demonstration  and  he  hoped  none 
would  attempt  to  repeat  it  unless  a  second  Henry 
Clay  appeared,  of  which  he  was  skeptical. 

At  first  he  was  on  terms  of  friendship  with  Cal- 
houn and  had  a  great  admiration  for  his  abilities 
as  well  as  for  those  of  Hayne.  He  did  not  under- 
stand the  drift  of  the  coalition  which  these  two 


288  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

Carolinians  were  trying  to  effect  between  the  West 
and  the  South,  and  it  was  long  before  his  eyes 
were  opened.  As  soon  as  he  discovered  the  nulli- 
fication plans  of  Calhoun,  he  broke  with  him  po- 
litically and  personally  except  for  the  most  formal 
recognition. 

With  Webster  he  seems  always  to  have  been 
friendly.  There  were  times  when  the  members 
of  the  triumvirate,  though  working  together,  were 
not  on  speaking  terms  with  one  another  and  must 
therefore  conduct  negotiations  through  an  out- 
side party.  Sometimes  Benton  was  the  emissary, 
though  opposed  as  a  rule  to  their  course. 

For  Van  Bur  en  he  appears  to  have  had  the  warm- 
est affection  of  his  career.  They  were  long  together 
in  the  Senate  and  when  Van  Buren  was  Vice-presi- 
dent, Benton  was  very  close  in  his  intimacy,  which 
was  finally  broken  by  Van  Buren' s  repulse  of  him 
just  before  his  inauguration  as  president.  Their 
unhappy  relations  were  not  of  long  continuance, 
however,  and  they  soon  became  warm  friends 
once  more.  Benton  was  greatly  disappointed 
when  Van  Buren  was  defeated  for  the  nomination 
of  1844,  but  when  he  was  chosen  as  a  presidential 
candidate  by  the  Free  Soil  Democracy  in  1848, 
would  not  support  him,  as  he  did  not  believe  in  a 


FRIENDSHIPS  AND  CHARACTERISTICS    289 

political    party   formed  for  the  agitation  of   the 
slavery  question. 

For  twenty-five  years  Benton  was  more  or  less  in 
contact  with  John  Quincy  Adams  who  opposed 
pretty  nearly  every  measure  which  he  supported  ; 
yet  when  Adams  died  Benton  was  one  of  the  two 
men  in  the  Senate  selected  to  deliver  a  eulogy  upon 
him.  On  such  occasions  Benton  was  always  at  his 
best.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  sentiment  and  at 
these  times  it  overflowed.  He  was  in  many  re- 
spects like  Adams  in  the  purity  of  his  life,  devo- 
tion to  duty  and  the  freedom  of  his  career  from 
scandal ;  but  intellectually  the  men  were  of  differ- 
ent types.  Benton  made  a  brief  address  on  Adams'  s 
career,  which  was  one  of  the  best  ever  given,  show- 
ing how  the  man  of  blood  and  iron  could  appre- 
ciate the  scholar  and  the  gentleman. 

One  of  his  earliest  friends  was  Hugh  L.  White, 
of  Tennessee,  from  whom  Benton  received  his  law 
license.  White  was  one  of  the  extraordinary  men 
of  his  time,  being  second  in  ability  to  hardly  any 
man  in  the  country.  When  Benton  was  a  member 
of  the  legislature  of  Tennessee  he  succeeded  in 
having  passed  a  bill  to  rearrange  the  judiciary  of 
the  state  on  a  modern  basis.  The  question  of  the 
chief  justiceship  was  one  which  gave  party  leaders 


290  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

no  little  concern.  All  desired  White  but  feared 
he  would  not  accept  it,  as  he  had  already  refused 
pretty  nearly  every  gift  the  people  could  offer  and 
was  only  in  the  beginning  of  his  career.  Upon 
Benton's  going  to  him  he  secured  his  consent,  and 
he  was  elected  without  opposition.  For  many 
years  White  and  Jackson  were  close  friends  and 
when  the  former  came  to  the  Senate  he  was  warmly 
received  by  his  early  pupil.  Benton  soon  found, 
however,  that  his  friend  was  not  an  unalloyed  sup- 
porter of  Jackson  and  in  the  fight  for  the  expung- 
ing resolution  White  was  aligned  against  him. 
Finally  the  legislature  ordered  White  to  vote  for 
the  resolution  and  he  resigned  rather  than  do  so, 
becoming  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  against 
Van  Buren  in  1886.  Benton  alleges  that  this  mis- 
take of  his  life  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  had  just 
married  a  new  wife,  who  had  been  a  boarding- 
house  keeper  and,  having  social  ambitions,  now 
wished  to  be  mistress  of  the  White  House.  When 
White  was  defeated  his  wife  was  distressed  beyond 
measure,  while  he  himself  was  much  chagrined  and 
died,  as  Benton  believed,  of  disappointment. 

With  Buchanan  he  had  had  friendly  relations 
for  many  years  though  not  always  one  of  his  warm 
admirers.     In    1856  when  he  supported  him,    as 


FEIEXDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTERISTICS    291 

against  his  own  son-in-law,  not  one  word  was  said 
in  derogation  of  Benton's  conduct  because  of  his 
known  fidelity  to  principle.  Such  an  exhibition  is 
almost  unparalleled  in  American  politics  yet  it  was 
consistent  with  Benton' s  whole  course  through  life. 
He  may  have  been  wrong  in  his  judgments  on  some 
occasions  but  he  never  hesitated  to  follow  his  con- 
victions no  matter  where  they  led  him.  At  an  in- 
teresting point  in  his  career  he  was  badly  needed 
on  the  stump  in  Missouri.  His  aged  mother  was 
then  very  feeble  and  her  death  was  expected  at  any 
moment.  He  declined  to  make  speeches  or  to  take 
any  other  part  in  politics  during  the  whole  summer. 
It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  this  filial  duty  was  re- 
warded, for  in  spite  of  his  absence,  the  elections  re- 
sulted as  he  wished. 

Considering  how  uxorious  he  was,  how  fond  of 
the  family  circle  and  how  passionately  he  loved  his 
children,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  his  devotion 
to  the  dueling  code.  This  was  another  exhibition 
of  his  Eoman  firmness,  for  although  he  refused  to 
accept  or  to  issue  challenges  while  in  the  Senate, 
believing  it  inconsistent  with  his  duty,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  reason  to  doubt  that  he  would  have 
done  so  under  other  circumstances,  and  have  gone 
to  the  field  with  composure,  even  if  he  knew  that 


292  THOMAS  H.  BEKTON 

lie  were  to  fall  and  leave  his  wife  and  four  beau- 
tiful daughters  unprotected.  His  was  the  character 
of  a  Curtius  or  a  Jephtha.  Even  when  the  Graves- 
Cilley  duel '  made  it  apparent  that  something  must 
be  done  to  stop  the  practice  Benton  was  not  satis- 
fied with  the  law  that  was  passed.  He  hated  dueling 
even  if  he  had  killed  his  man  at  ten  feet,  but  he 
believed  that  there  was  no  substitute  for  it  to  keep 
men  up  to  the  highest  standards  of  honor.  He 
thought  that  the  use  of  the  bowie-knife  and  the  re- 
volver, which  became  very  frequent  as  the  contest 
over  slavery  grew  more  bitter,  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  dueling  had  been  made  a  crime  ;  he  therefore 
was  not  satisfied  to  see  the  code  abolished. 

He  was  so  high  an  authority  on  the  subject  that 
his  opinion  was  frequently  invoked  when  affairs  of 

^  Jonathan  Cilley,  of  Maine,  and  William  J.  Graves,  of  Ken- 
tucky, both  members  of  Congress,  fought  a  duel  in  1838,  at 
Bladensburg  (near  Washington),  under  peculiar  circumstances. 
James  Watson  Webb,  a  New  York  editor,  commented  severely 
upon  a  speech  by  Cilley,  and  eventually  sent  the  latter  a  challenge 
by  the  hand  of  Graves.  Cilley  declined  and  in  the  end  Graves 
made  the  quarrel  his  own,  challenged  and  was  accepted.  Kifles 
were  used  and  at  the  third  fire  Cilley  was  killed.  From  start  to 
finish  it  was  considered  that  the  duel  was  one  of  extraordinary 
atrocity.  It  of  course  could  not  have  taken  place  under  normal 
ethical  conditions  ;  even  under  the  code  the  affair  should  have 
been  accommodated  without  loss  of  honor  to  those  concerned 
and  it  never  should  have  proceeded  under  any  circumstances 
beyond  the  first  exchange  of  shots.  As  a  result  a  very  severe 
law  was  passed  which  it  was  expected  would  suppress  dueling 
at  Washington. 


FEIENDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTEEISTICS    293 

honor  were  to  be  fought  and  sometimes  he  was  able 
to  compose  them.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  his  life 
was  to  settle  a  dispute  for  James  B.  Clay,  a  son  of 
Henry  and  then  a  member  of  the  House,  who  was 
involved  in  an  affair  with  a  member  from  New 
York.  A  meeting  seemed  inevitable.  This  was 
deplored  by  every  one  because  the  death  of  either 
combatant  would  certainly  result  in  a  still  further 
inflaming  of  the  people  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
In  this  dilemma  it  was  finally  arranged  that  Benton 
should  act  as  arbiter  and  after  careful  considera- 
tion he  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  under  the  code 
there  could  be  no  meeting.  The  principals  and 
their  friends  acquiesced,  as  did  also  the  public, 
though  nothing  less  than  Benton's  great  authority 
could  have  accomplished  the  happy  result. 

It  has  seldom  happened  in  a  career  so  long  as  his 
that  no  charge  of  inconsistency  could  be  brought 
against  him.  That  is  not  the  highest  tribute,  as 
many  great  men  have  radically  changed  their  views 
without  losing  public  respect;  but  in  Benton's  case 
there  was  no  change.  He  was  always  for  sound 
money  and  against  the  bank  ;  always  for  cheap 
lands  and  against  distributing  the  surplus  among 
the  states  ;  always  against  lavish  appropriations  for 
internal  improvements  j  always  against  slavery  ex- 


294  TH03IAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

tension  or  agitation ;  and  always  unqualifiedly  for 
the  Union.  When  he  saw  Missouri  drifting  away 
from  his  position,  he  not  only  did  not  go  with  the 
tide,  but  he  strenuously  fought  the  secession  spirit 
and  in  the  end  was  willing  that  a  Whig  should  suc- 
ceed him,  rather  than  one  of  the  state -rights'  Dem- 
ocrats of  the  Davis- Atchison  school.  And  this  was 
at  a  time  when  one  word  on  his  part  would  have 
kept  him  in  the  position  he  so  much  desired  to 
hold.  His  was  a  sort  of  firmness  not  common  in 
those  days  or  since.  Clay  said  that  Benton  had  a 
hide  like  a  hippopotamus,  which  was  another  way 
of  saying  he  was  inflexible.  Clay  had  good  reason 
to  fear  Benton,  for  though  the  latter  was  not  to  be 
compared  with  the  former  in  originality  of  concep- 
tion, brilliancy  of  execution  or  elegance  of  diction, 
yet  in  practically  all  their  encounters  the  eventual 
result  was  that  Benton  won  and  Clay  lost.  If  Clay's 
own  skin  had  possessed  more  of  the  quality  of  the 
hippopotamus's,  it  might  have  been  better  for  his 
success. 

Benton's  first  great  disappointment  in  life  was 
over  the  failure  of  Congress  to  pass  the  bill  creat- 
ing the  grade  of  lieutenant-general  in  the  army  so 
that  he  could  go  to  Mexico  and  carry  on  the  war. 
Why  Benton  should  have  wished   to   wear  gold 


FEIEXDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTEEISTICS    295 

braid  and  set  squadrons  in  the  field,  unless  he 
thought  it  would  lead  him  to  the  White  House, 
it  is  difficult  to  understand.  Though  he  did  map 
out  the  campaigns  in  the  large,  it  was  hardly 
to  be  expected  that  he  could  execute  them  with 
the  promptness  and  thoroughness  of  Taylor  or 
Scott ;  yet  in  his  Memoirs  he  affects  superiority 
to  both.  When  his  friends  interfered  and  killed 
the  bill  as  it  neared  final  passage,  Benton  felt  the 
blow  keenly,  but  cherished  no  resentments  over 
the  matter. 

When  he  grew  older  he  used  to  be  very  fond  of 
taking  new  senators  by  the  hand  and  instructing 
them  in  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  chamber. 
He  assumed  a  patronizing  air  but  with  great 
dignity.  He  was  a  very  large  and  heavy  man  and 
his  pompousness  was  so  quaint  that  it  was  well  re- 
ceived by  the  budding  statesmen  who  in  time 
found  that  Benton  could  be,  and  frequently  was,  of 
real  service  to  them.  He  never  failed  to  answer  a 
request  of  the  sort. 

In  getting  a  proper  estimate  of  Benton's  attitude 
toward  society,  it  should  be  remembered  that  he  was 
by  birth  and  family  connections  an  aristocrat 
while  his  early  training  and  temperament  had 
made  him  a  man  of  the  people.     He  owed  his 


296  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0N 

name  to  the  fact  that  his  mother  had  grown  up  in 
the  family  of  her  uncle,  Colonel  Thomas  Hart,  who 
was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Henry  Clay.  Colonel  Hart 
was  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  aristocratic 
men  in  America  and  the  family  connection  always 
aided  Benton.  In  his  contact  with  equals  Benton 
ever  seemed  a  trifle  arrogant :  toward  those  whom 
he  considered  inferiors  he  was  kind,  even  if  occa- 
sionally condescending. 

Although  Benton  professed  to  be  a  pronounced 
Democrat  of  the  Jefferson  school,  in  some  things 
he  was  a  Federalist.  His  father  had  been  a  Tory 
and  he  had  grown  up  in  Tennessee  in  a  rude  school 
but  in  later  life  he  became  more  and  more  con- 
servative in  many  of  his  views.  Not  only  was  he 
a  great  stickler  for  the  decorum  of  the  Senate,  but 
on  all  occasions  he  was  likely  to  be  rather  cold 
in  his  conversations  with  any  but  his  intimates. 
Senator  Eufus  King  gave  him  an  idea  that  made  a 
profound  impression  on  his  conduct.  After  Ben- 
ton had  delivered  a  speech  in  which  he  had  in- 
veighed against  Great  Britain  and  monarchies  in 
general.  King  had  a  serious  talk  with  the  young 
man,  explaining  that  such  views  were  too  radical. 
King  had  been  born  a  subject  of  a  British  sovereign 
and  had  always  professed  loyalty  up  to  the  time  of 


FRIENDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTEEISTICS    297 

the  troubles  just  preceding  the  Revolution.  He 
said  it  was  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  a  man  could 
not  be  loyal  to  a  monarch  and  still  have  notions  of 
individual  and  social  liberty.  This  was  in  no  dis- 
paragement of  American  democracy  j  it  was  given 
as  a  fact  which  could  not  be  ignored.  Benton 
often  thought  of  what  King  told  him  and  it  gave 
him  a  more  liberal  idea  of  European  statesmen 
than  he  had  previously  held. 

It  seems  hardly  possible  that  Benton's  narrow 
views  on  some  questions  could  have  been  main- 
tained had  he  lived  much  longer.  He  was  an 
ardent  believer  in  state-rights,  but  when  the 
chief  tenet  of  the  Calhoun  school  became  nullifica- 
tion, it  met  his  instant  and  unyielding  disapproba- 
tion J  yet  as  that  was  perhaps  the  legitimate  result 
of  the  extreme  views  of  the  state-rights  men,  we 
may  suppose  that  Benton  would  have  found  it 
difficult  to  say  exactly  where  he  drew  the  line.  As 
he  grew  older  and  the  younger  school  of  Southern 
statesmen  came  on  the  stage,  he  found  himself 
more  and  more  isolated.  By  the  time  the  Whig 
party  was  dead,  he  was  really  more  of  a  Whig 
than  a  Democrat,  but  he  could  not  become  a  Re- 
publican. 

His  views  on  slavery  were  those  of  many  others 


298  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

of  Ms  generation.  Though  hating  the  institu- 
tion, he  kept  slaves  even  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  One  of  the  things  that  sank  bitterly 
into  his  soul  was  the  agreement  of  this  country  to 
maintain  a  squadron  on  the  African  coast  to  sup- 
press the  slave  trade.  He  detested  that  trade  but 
thought  this  government  ought  not  to  be  called 
upon  to  do  police  work  ;  that  Great  Britain,  which 
was  responsible  for  the  introduction  of  slavery  into 
the  United  States,  and  had  lately  taken  such  an 
interest  in  abolishing  it  the  world  over,  ought  to 
carry  the  burden.  Benton  must  have  known  that 
the  trade  was  still  flourishing,  and  that  annually 
thousands  of  slaves  were  being  smuggled  into  this 
country,  but  it  was  a  part  of  his  laissezfaire  policy 
to  ignore  real  conditions  and  let  the  Southern  peo- 
ple have  their  own  way.  This  was  impossible  as  he 
later  found  out  to  his  cost. 

At  a  time  when  the  nation  was  fairly  prosperous 
and  the  states  were  burdened  with  debt,  an  effort 
was  made  to  have  the  Federal  government  as- 
sume all  the  debts  of  the  states.  Many  of  them 
had  defaulted  on  their  bonds  and  there  was  great 
indignation  in  Great  Britain  because  of  the  losses 
to  investors.  Benton  set  his  face  resolutely  against 
this  idea  and  fought  the  measure  to  its  death.     He 


FEIENDSHIPS  AKD  CHAEACTEEISTICS    299 

believed,  aud  rightly,  that  the  precedent  would  be 
an  evil  one  ;  that  the  payment  of  state  debts  by 
Hamilton  was  purely  for  expenses  incurred  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution  and  was  in  no  sense  on  a 
par  with  the  present  proposal.  He  opposed  all 
such  jobbery  and  all  sorts  of  extravagance  angered 
him,  while  as  a  foe  of  monopoly  he  would  have 
been  terrified  at  many  things  which  have  hap- 
pened since  his  day.  ] 

He  kept  his  financial  affairs  to  himself,  but  he 
appears  to  have  used  up  most  of  his  substance  by 
the  time  he  died.  It  is  a  little  strange  considering 
his  opportunities  that  he  never  made  more  effort  to 
accumulate  property.  While  he  had  worked  hard 
in  youth  and  the  family  had  comparatively  little 
ready  money,  they  had  a  good  deal  of  property, 
and  he  might  have  gained  much  if  his  ambitions  had 
been  in  that  direction.  Apparently  he  was  very 
generous  toward  his  brothers  and  sisters,  who  prob- 
ably received  more  than  their  shares  of  the  estate. 
He  left  the  plantation  in  early  manhood,  first,  for 
the  army,  which  did  not  bring  him  the  fame  he 
sought,  and  then  for  the  law  in  which  he  was  more 
successful.  It  was  usual  in  those  days  for  the  sons 
who  received  an  education  to  be  content  with  that, 
which  may  be  the  reason  that  when  he  reached  St. 


300  THOMAS  H.  BENTO:!^ 

Louis  he  had  only  four  hundred  dollars  in  his 
pocket,  though  that  was  a  much  larger  capital  than 
the  same  sum  would  be  esteemed  in  these  days. 
He  occasionally  bemoaned  the  fact  that  he  had  not 
more  money  to  invest  in  lands  in  the  West,  which 
he  was  certain  would  be  very  valuable  in  the  near 
future.  His  son-in-law,  Fremont,  was  at  one  time 
thought  to  be  a  millionaire  mine  owner,  but  the 
mines  contained  little  or  no  gold.  His  favorite 
daughter,  IVIrs.  Fremont,  spent  her  last  years  in  ab- 
solute poverty,  being  supported  by  the  quiet  bene- 
factions of  friends  who  deceived  her  in  thinking 
the  money  came  from  some  old  investments.  From 
her  father  she  appears  to  have  received  nothing. 

In  his  dealings  in  financial  matters  Benton  was 
exceedingly  conscientious.  He  abhorred  debt  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  desired  that  good  money  only  be 
used.  At  one  time  he  refused  to  take  his  senatorial 
pay  in  notes,  though  they  were  perfectly  good,  and 
insisted  on  ^'  the  hard  or  a  protest,"  which  he  wrote 
across  the  face  of  the  draft.  He  did  protest  and  the 
matter  was  settled  so  that  he  actually  got  the  gold, 
but  the  incident  was  not  very  forceful  as  a  prec- 
edent until  after  his  whole  plan  of  specie  pay- 
ments had  been  worked  out. 

Benton's  religious  sentiments  were  very  deep  and 


FEIEXDSHIPS  AXD  CHAEACTERISTICS    301 

he  was  a  constant  attendant  on  public  worship.  He 
was  orthodox  in  his  views  and  was  a  great  student 
of  the  Bible,  which  he  revered.  When  in  anger, 
according  to  a  very  peculiar  habit  of  the  time, 
he  would  swear  ''like  a  trooper,"  but  the  prac- 
tice was  never  laid  up  against  him. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  in  youth  he 
was  something  of  a  musician  and  throughout  his 
life  was  fond  of  singing.  His  daughters  were 
educated  with  great  care  and  on  Sunday  evenings 
he  delighted  to  hear  them  sing  and  sometimes 
joined  them  at  the  piano.  He  went  to  concerts 
until  his  wife  was  taken  ill,  and  after  her  death  he 
seems  only  once  to  have  revoked  his  rule  about 
going  to  public  amusements  when  Jenny  Lind 
visited  Washington.  Outside  of  music  he  exhib- 
ited little  fondness  for  the  fine  arts  and  had  almost 
no  recreation,  except  horseback  riding,  of  which 
he  was  very  fond.  In  Washington  he  rode  about 
on  a  spirited  black  charger,  proud  of  the  sensation 
his  appearance  created.  On  these  occasions  he  was 
likely  to  be  accompanied  by  a  granddaughter. 

In  his  family  life  he  was  exceedingly  happy  and 
few  public  men  have  ever  spent  so  much  time  at 
home.  His  affection  for  every  member  of  his 
family  amounted  almost  to  a  passion.     He  fairly 


302  THOMAS  H.  BENT0:N' 

worshiped  his  wife  and  daughters  and  no  sacrifice 
for  them  was  too  great.  Considering  how  arrogant 
he  could  be,  how  stubborn  he  always  was,  and  how 
passionate  in  early  life,  his  conduct  in  the  family 
circle  was  remarkable  and  all  that  the  most 
capricious  could  desire.  During  his  wife's  long 
illness  he  showed  a  tenderness  and  chivalry  toward 
her  on  all  occasions  that  was  generally  and  favor- 
ably commented  upon. 

Their  family  life  was  clouded  not  only  by  her 
long  illness,  but  by  the  death  of  their  two  sons 
early  in  life.  Both  of  these  were  lads  of  promise, 
whom  the  Senator  expected  would  wear  his  mantle. 
The  eldest,  Eandolph,  was  named  for  his  father's 
friend  j  the  younger,  James  McDowell,  named  for 
his  grandfather,  is  said  to  have  had  an  unusually 
sweet  disposition  and  his  death  almost  broke  the 
Senator's  heart.  It  has  been  said  elsewhere  that  his 
favorite  daughter  married  against  his  wishes  and 
the  same  is  reported  of  her  sisters.  Of  these, 
Eliza  married  William  Carey  Jones ;  Sarah,  Eich- 
ard  Taylor  Jacob ;  and  Susan,  Baron  Gauldree 
Boileau,  of  the  French  Legation.  In  his  old  age 
Benton  found  much  comfort  in  his  grandchil- 
dren, of  whom  there  were  many.  None  of  his 
domestic  afflictions  were  brought  to  public  atten- 


FRIENDSHIPS  AKD  CHARACTERISTICS    303 

tiou,  aud  he  never  complaiued,  though  they  were 
as  irou  to  his  soul.  It  was  a  peculiarly  hard  fate 
that  one  who  abjured  all  of  that  public  social 
intercourse,  so  common  in  his  day,  should  be 
denied  in  the  home  he  loved  so  much  the  highest 
measure  of  domestic  bliss.  He  gave  small  dinners 
to  intimates,  which  were  highly  esteemed,  but  his 
hospitality  was  not  lavish,  both  because  he  did  not 
enjoy  that  sort  of  thing  and  because  he  could  not 
afford  it.  Much  of  the  time  his  wife  could  not  pre- 
side at  the  table,  and  on  some  occasions  when 
she  did  her  husband  had  to  do  practically  all  the 
honors,  yet  never  with  the  slightest  embarrass- 
ment. He  had  a  colored  cook  who  was  famous 
for  her  skill  and  in  his  later  years  to  have  dined 
at  Benton's  was  considered  a  high  honor  by  the 
younger  men  in  Congress,  who  had  come  to  look 
upon  him  as  a  sage. 

Benton  was  in  Washington  at  the  time  of  his 
brother  Jesse^s  encounter  with  Carroll,  which  led 
to  the  Jackson  imbroglio  and  he  at  once  flared 
into  a  heat  of  passion,  becoming  an  uncompromis- 
ing partisan  of  his  brother  without  waiting  to 
hear  what  his  old  chief  and  friend.  General 
Jackson,  had  to  say  about  the  matter.  When 
the  encounter  came  he  rushed  into  it  in  a  spirit 


304  THOMAS  H.  BENTOK 

more  befitting  a  Highland  Scottish  chief  of  the 
sixteenth  century  than  a  lawyer  and  legislator  of 
the  nineteenth.  His  affection  for  Jesse  continued 
through  life,  though  the  latter  seems  to  have  been  a 
man  of  much  smaller  calibre.  Benton  at  one  time 
even  relaxed  in  his  determination  never  to  ask 
of&ce  for  his  family  so  far  as  to  endorse  a  nephew's 
claims,  though  apparently  he  did  not  make  the 
original  application. 

He  was  always  ready  to  talk  about  health  to  any 
one  who  would  listen  to  his  views,  and  seeing  how 
he  had  been  snatched  practically  from  the  jaws  of 
the  grave  by  his  own  severe  regimen,  he  had  some 
reason  for  the  faith  in  his  practice.  He  was  daily 
rubbed  down  by  a  negro  servant  with  a  horse 
brush,  which  would  have  almost  made  a  Spartan 
quail.  He  began  this  in  youth  when  fleeing  from 
consumption  and  kept  it  up  until  the  end,  although 
it  must  have  taken  a  very  stoical  mind  to  submit  to 
its  tortures.  It  has  been  noted  that  he  lived  an 
abstemious  life  at  his  mother's  request,  and  when 
she  died  it  was  a  terrible  sorrow  to  him,  though 
she  was  then  very  old. 

In  his  heart  he  was  generous,  and  almost  too 
confiding  for  his  own  good.  Any  injustice  made 
him    boil   with    indignation.      When  two   of   the 


FEIEXDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTEEISTICS    305 

officers  of  the  Somers  were  hanged  at  the  yard-arm 
for  alleged  mutiny,  one  of  them  being  Spencer, 
son  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Benton  spent 
months  investigating  the  evidence,  and  his  opinion 
was  that  no  mutiny  was  intended  and  that  the 
court-martial  of  the  officers  was  conducted  not  to 
get  at  the  truth  but  to  protect  the  offenders. 

As  he  fell  farther  and  farther  away  from  his 
party  he  lost  the  respect  of  none.  He  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  Anti-Masonry  or  Kjiow  Noth- 
ingism,  and  it  was  the  followers  of  the  latter  idea 
who  were  finally  responsible  for  his  overthi^ow. 
He  made  a  constant  and  unavailing  effort  his  life 
long  to  confine  national  political  discussion  and 
action  to  a  narrow  range  of  subjects  which  he 
deemed  constitutional.  He  was  not  enough  of  a 
seer  to  perceive  that  this  was  impossible.  He 
could  not  understand  the  temper  of  the  times 
and  when  anti- slavery  ideas  began  to  be  injected 
into  politics  he  was  out  of  his  element,  though 
always  the  most  upright  and  moral  of  men. 

Much  comment  has  been  made  by  historians  as  to 
Benton's  inflexibility  on  public  questions  and  his 
refusal  in  defeat  to  acknowledge  error.  They  seem 
to  think  that  his  long  arguments  on  the  constitu- 
tionality of  public  questions  smelled  more  of  the 


306  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^T0X 

lamp  of  the  student  than  of  a  broad  acquaintance 
with  the  Constitution  or  the  exact  conditions  of 
public  policy.  It  is  true  that  many  of  his  speeches 
are  very  difficult  reading  in  these  days,  but  one 
must  look  at  them  in  the  spirit  of  the  time  in  which 
they  were  uttered.  His  opposition  to  the  bank  as 
unconstitutional,  in  the  face  of  a  Supreme  Court 
decision  upholding  it,  is  by  some  laid  up  against 
him.  This  is  unfair.  The  bank  which  he  fought 
was  not  the  institution  of  Hamilton  which  had  been 
under  review  by  the  coui'ts,  and  in  any  event  there 
were  circumstances  which  made  it  entirely  proper 
for  him  as  a  legislator  to  hold  to  his  view.  He  had 
been  hostile  to  the  institution  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, and  it  is  believed  that  he  had  much  to  do 
with  finally  forming  Jackson's  opinions  on  the  sub- 
ject. It  is  true  that  Jackson  had  always  been  op- 
posed to  the  bank  which  in  the  West  was  esteemed 
an  odious  monopoly;  but  what  Jackson  thought  as 
a  private  citizen  and  what  course  he  would  take  as 
President  were  different  considerations.  Historians 
have  threshed  over  an  immense  amount  of  straw  to 
try  to  prove  that  Jackson  came  to  Washington 
ready  to  smite  this  Apollyon,  but  the  evidence  is  at 
least  inconclusive.  In  a  brief  time  he  did  go  into 
opposition,  but  this  was  partly  due  to  the  place 


FEIEXDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTEEISTICS    307 

held  by  the  bank  people  in  partisan  politics  and 
also  to  the  influence  of  Benton,  whose  views  on 
finance  were  generally  correct,  and  who  was  in  this 
particular  more  than  usually  well  acquainted  with 
actual  economic  conditions.  What  Benton  saw 
most  cleai'ly  was  that  the  West  was  growing  with 
enormous  rapidity  under  the  stimulus  of  cheap  and 
fertile  lands.  In  his  day,  when  civilization  was  less 
complex  and  the  natural  resources  of  the  country 
proportionately  larger,  it  was  much  easier  than  now 
for  an  energetic,  frugal  set  of  farmers  to  achieve 
what  was  considered  a  competency.  And  because 
they  did  get  along  so  well  with  so  little  money, 
Benton  adjusted  many  of  his  theories  in  finance  to 
their  situation. 

It  has  been  previously  stated  that  Benton  was  not 
a  man  of  vivid  imagination.  In  one  respect  this 
view  must  be  modified.  He  saw  more  clearly  than 
any  of  his  contemporaries  the  future  of  the  great 
Northwest,  and  his  imagination  ran  riot  in  his  ef- 
forts to  paint  its  glowing  prospects.  After  elimi- 
nating his  quotations  from  Horace  and  some  rather 
involved  efforts  at  apotheosis,  we  find  that  he  had 
a  pretty  correct  view  of  the  potentialities  not  only 
of  the  West  of  his  day  but  of  the  far  West  and  North- 
west, and  the  far  East, 


308  THOMAS  H.  BEXT0:N^ 

In  Ms  many  speeches  on  the  land  question  or  the 
Oregon  boundary,  he  constantly  referred  to  that 
great  section  beyond  the  Eocky  Mountains  which 
even  then  was  beckoning.  And  though  in  the  very 
interesting  life  of  Marcus  Whitman,  who  did  so 
much  to  save  Oregon,  we  find  that  it  was  Ben- 
ton's colleague,  Dr.  Linn,  who  introduced  Whit- 
man to  President  Tyler,  thus  securing  a  temporary 
reversal  of  the  administration's  policy  in  regard  to 
Oregon,  it  seems  very  likely  that  Benton  was  his 
sponsor  in  this  afi'air. 

Whitman  arrived  in  Washington  in  1843  at  the 
precise  time  that  Webster  had  ignored  the  Oregon 
question  in  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  as  pre- 
viously related.  Webster  along  with  many  others 
was  convinced  that  Oregon  was  of  little  use  to  any 
one  and  felt  that  its  remoteness  made  it  impractica- 
ble for  us  to  press  our  claims  upon  the  section,  cer- 
tainly if  any  risk  of  friction  with  Great  Britain  was 
involved.  Tyler  entirely  agreed  with  Webster, 
though  it  is  commonly  supposed  that  the  principal 
reason  for  his  willingness  to  let  Oregon  go  was  his 
hope  that  Great  Britain  would  thereby  be  induced 
to  acquiesce  in  his  plans  for  the  annexation  of 
Texas.  Whitman  labored  with  Webster  and  Tyler 
and  certainly  accomplished  much,— just  how  much 


FEIENDSHIPS  AND  CHARACTERISTICS    309 

lias  been  open  to  dispute.  There  seems,  however, 
to  be  no  reason  to  doubt  that  either  Tyler  or  Web- 
ster, or  those  speaking  for  them,  agreed  that  if 
Whitman  would  lead  a  caravan  across  the  plains 
and  up  the  Missouri  to  Oregon,  thus  demonstrating 
its  accessibility,  our  claims  to  the  country  would 
be  kept  alive  and  pressed  at  the  suitable  time. 
Whitman  kept  his  promise  as  did  the  administration. 
Dr.  Linn  was  in  perfect  accord  with  Benton  but 
temperamentally  his  opposite,  and  was  in  better 
favor  at  the  White  House.  It  is  impossible,  how- 
ever, not  to  believe  that  the  change  in  the  Oregon 
policy  of  the  administration  was  largely  due  to  the 
influence  of  Benton  who  was  practically  the  only 
important  man  in  Washington  to  defend  that  dis- 
tant country  against  all  assaults.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  said:  ''This  ample,  rich  and  elevated 
mountain  region  is  deemed,  by  those  unacquainted 
with  the  farthest  West,  to  be,  and  to  be  forever,  the 
desolate  and  frozen  dominion  of  the  wild  beast  and 
the  savage.  On  the  contrary,  I  view  it  as  the  fu- 
ture seat  of  population  and  power,  where  man  is  to 
appear  in  all  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical 
endowments  which  ennoble  the  mountain  race,  and 
where  liberty,  independence  and  love  of  virtue  are 
to  make  their  last  stand  on  earth, '^ 


310  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOX 

This  was  drawing  the  long  bow  with  a  vengeance 
and  indeed  statements  similar  to  these  rather  injured 
than  helped  his  cause.  There  were  some  practical 
men  in  that  day  who  were  willing  to  learn  but  they 
were  little  affected  by  perfervid  oratory  in  which 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  obvious  overstatement. 

It  thus  came  about  that  he  made  enemies  by  say- 
ing too  much  of  a  country  so  far  away  and  taking 
too  little  interest  in  Texas  which  was  near  at  hand. 
Benton's  views  on  the  last-named  question  were  al- 
most exactly  those  of  Henry  Clay  at  the  opening  of 
his  canvass  in  1844,  but  he  lacked  the  facility  of 
Clay  in  explaining  his  position. 

Clay,  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  wrote 
the  famous  Ealeigh  Letter  (so  called  from  the 
place  of  writing  it)  in  which  he  announced  that  he 
was  favorable  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  only  in 
case  Mexico,  Texas  and  the  United  States  were 
agreed  upon  the  proposition,  to  the  end  that  it  be 
accomplished  without  injustice  to  any  one  and  in 
consonance  with  national  honor.  It  made  an  im- 
mense sensation  and  if  Clay  had  never  modified 
the  statements  therein  contained  he  would  probably 
have  been  elected  President.  Because  Benton 
agreed  to  the  sentiments  expressed  in  this  letter, 
he  was  by  some  esteemed  a  Clay  man,  though  he 


FRIENDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTERISTICS    311 

gTive  his  adherence  to  Cass.  Benton  was  not  ac- 
customed to  writing  letters  on  matters  of  national 
policy  except  to  his  constituents,  preferring  to  dis- 
cuss great  measures  in  the  Senate  ;  and  though  it  is 
not  likely  he  would  ever  under  any  circumstances 
have  written  such  a  document  as  the  Raleigh  Let- 
ter, because  he  did  not  like  to  discuss  matters  re- 
lating to  slavery  when  they  could  be  avoided,  it  is 
certain  that  if  he  had  taken  such  a  stand  nothing 
could  have  moved  him  from  it.  Unfortunately, 
Clay,  finding  the  Raleigh  Letter  unpopular  in  the 
South,  took  advantage  of  a  slight  change  in  the 
situation  and  wrote  to  a  Southern  friend  two  letters, 
known  as  the  Alabama  Letters,  in  which  he  seemed 
to  hedge  very  decidedly  on  the  position  taken  in 
the  Raleigh  Letter.  In  consequence  he  was  accused 
by  the  Abolitionists  of  blowing  hot  and  cold,  of  de- 
siring to  be  an  anti- slavery  man  in  the  North  and  a 
pro-slavery  man  in  the  South.  This  was  not  just  to 
Clay  but  the  result  was  his  defeat.  Benton  hated 
the  Abolitionists  as  much  as  Clay  did,  but  he  was 
so  constituted  that  he  never  could  have  taken  a 
strong  position  on  any  subject  and  modified  it  later. 
For  this  reason  the  relations  thereafter  between 
him  and  Clay  were  anything  but  pleasant. 

Enough  has  been  related  in  this  narrative  of  the 


312  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

uncompromising  nature  of  the  man  so  that  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  comment  at  length  upon  it. 
Among  all  the  great  enmities  of  his  life — and  there 
were  many — that  against  Jackson  seems  to  have 
been  the  only  one  that  was  ever  fully  repented  of 
and  forgotten.  There  were  occasions  when  he  was 
with  difficulty  kept  out  of  duels  with  Clay  and 
others,  in  spite  of  his  resolutions  on  the  subject ; 
and  though  at  times  he  would  be  on  speaking 
terms  with  his  opponents  and  observe  an  ordinary 
degree  of  courtesy  toward  them,  he  nursed  his 
wrath,  which  broke  out  on  the  next  occasion  with 
greater  virulence  than  before.  K  ''earth  has  no 
rage  like  love  to  hatred  turned,"  the  exact  reverse 
seems  to  have  been  true  in  regard  to  his  relations 
with  Jackson.  The  bitterness  which  he  for  years 
felt  toward  him  is  in  strange  contrast  with  his  later 
admiration  and  is  the  one  feature  of  his  whole 
career  which  seems  contradictory.  One  can  only 
believe  that  if  his  imperious  nature  could  have 
been  touched  in  the  right  spot  on  other  occasions 
and  in  other  relations,  the  result  would  have  been 
beneficial  to  all  concerned. 

Certainly  it  was  quite  as  much  his  mannerisms 
as  the  principles  he  espoused,  that  started  the  op- 
position to  him  at  the  last.     There  seems  little 


FEIE:N^DSHIPS  and  CHAEACTERISTICS    313 

doubt  that  if  lie  had  been  more  tactful,  he  could 
have  overcome  his  political  enemies  in  Missouri 
and  secured  the  sixth  election  to  the  Senate.  Tact 
was  not  one  of  his  qualities  and  he  had  been  spoiled 
for  any  semblance  of  diplomacy  in  politics  by  the 
singular  successes  of  his  early  career.  There  were 
many  times  when  the  positions  he  took,  as  on  the 
Oregon  question  or  Texas  annexation,  were  ex- 
ceedingly unpopular  at  home  and  he  was  severely 
criticised  by  the  press  and  denounced  in  public 
meetings  even  by  those  who  had  been  his  former 
partisans.  On  many  occasions  he  had  seen  his 
position  justified  by  time  and  he  counted  rather 
too  much  on  this.  He  seems  never  to  have  reflected 
that  his  continued  residence  in  Washington  had 
made  him  a  stranger  to  the  rising  generation  in 
Missouri,  and  he  overestimated  the  effect  which  his 
many  services  and  acknowledged  abilities  had  upon 
the  people.  When  he  declared  that  '^  the  slavery 
question  was  like  the  plague  of  frogs  which  ap- 
peared everywhere  from  the  scullery  to  the  nuptial 
couch,"  he  at  least  understood  how  important  and 
wide-spread  the  issue  had  become.  He  insisted 
either  on  ignoring  or  smothering  it  when  such 
things  were  impossible.  At  the  time  when  Atch- 
ison, Claiborne  F.  Jackson  and  other  radical  pro- 


314  TH03IAS  H.  BEXTOX 

slavery  leaders,  were  active  in  every  part  of  Mis- 
souri, stirring  up  opposition,  not  so  much  because  of 
personal  antipathy  to  Benton,  but  because  he  stood 
in  the  way  of  their  cherished  plans,  he  took  the 
matter  altogether  too  calmly.  He  would  refuse  re- 
quests to  speak  and  at  times  seemed  rather  cavalier 
in  replies  to  his  constituents.  He  evidently  looked 
upon  himself  as  their  shepherd  and  considered  it 
their  duty  to  follow  him  without  question. 

This  was  a  temperamental  fault  which  in  so 
strong  a  nature  as  his  could  not  be  overcome.  It 
seems  probable  that  if  he  had  waited  a  few  years  in 
Missouri  before  going  to  Washington  he  would 
have  been  more  closely  identified  with  the  people 
and  the  state,  and  might  have  kept  a  closer  hold  on 
their  affections  at  the  last.  He  did  have  some  dif- 
ficulty at  first  in  making  the  people  see  that  he  was 
the  sort  of  senator  they  wished ;  for  as  has  been 
noted  his  election  was  accomplished  with  difficulty 
in  the  face  of  bitter  opposition  and  under  circum- 
stances which  long  rankled  in  the  breasts  of  his  op- 
ponents. If  he  could  have  come  into  close  personal 
contact  with  his  constituents  in  1845-50,  he  might 
have  achieved  success  without  sacrificing  principle. 
That  was  not  to  be  and  argues  a  Benton  that  did 
not  exist. 


FRIENDSHIPS  AKD  CHAEACTERISTICS    315 

It  is  difficult  to  speak  of  Benton's  vanity  in  any 
detail  without  doing  the  man  an  injustice.    Egotism 
clothed  him  as  with  a  garment.     At  times  it  was  so 
noticeable  as  to  detract  greatly  from  his  usefulness. 
It  undoubtedly  acted  as  a  bar  to  whatever  ambi- 
tions he  had  for  the  presidency.     And,  indeed,  it 
is  a  little  difficult  to  understand  on  what  grounds 
his  vanity  was  based.     Physically  he  was  a  remark- 
able man,  six  feet  tall,  well-built  and  with  an  enor- 
mous head  and  striking  face  such  as  no  one  ever 
saw  without  remarking  upon.     But  though  Benton 
was  rather  vain  of  his  looks  and  always  di^essed 
with  scrupulous  care  his  appearance  was  not  the 
chief  cause  of  his  egotism.     His  vanity  was  centred 
largely  upon  his  knowledge  of  men  and  events  in 
American  history.    His  memory  seems  to  have  been 
very  retentive  as  to  facts.     To  him  dates  were  an 
open  book  and  such  was  the  cast  of  this  faculty  that 
he  could  remember  the  very  page  of  a  volume  on 
which  was  recorded  what  he  wished  to  look  up. 
He  was  a  great  student  of  maps  and  frequently  con- 
founded those  who  tried  to  impose  bogus  drawings 
on  the  Senate.     In  this  respect  he  seems  to  have 
had  no  superior  in  his  time,  not  even  that  great 
scholar,  John  Quincy  Adams.     But  his  erudition 
must  be  looked  upon  in  a  comparative  light  and 


316  THOMAS  H.  BEA^TOi^ 

viewed  according  to  the  standards  of  his  age  rather 
than  our  own.  Although  his  learning  tended  to 
pedantry  he  was  for  his  age  and  times  much  more 
of  a  scholar  than  his  mannerisms  indicated. 

It  is  not  possible  to  compare  the  intellectual 
power  of  Benton  and  Webster:  there  is  almost 
exclusively  a  contrast.  Yet,  because  Benton  could 
remember  dates  and  facts,  could  answer  almost 
instantly  any  question  propounded  to  him  on 
any  public  question,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
he  looked  upon  himself  as  much  superior  to 
Webster. 

The  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life  were  lived  almost 
constantly  at  Washington  where  he  had  a  fine  home 
filled  with  many  valuable  books  and  manuscripts. 
Books  were  less  numerous  then  than  now  but  they 
were  more  carefully  read.  Benton  was  more  omniv- 
orous than  discriminating  in  his  reading  which  seems 
to  have  been  largely  that  of  history  and  biography 
and  very  little  of  belles  lettres.  Considering  how 
much  he  read,  it  is  astonishing  that  he  was  not  able  to 
absorb  something  of  the  style  of  the  great  mas- 
ters ;  but  he  never  did,  even  in  the  remotest 
degree.  He  loved  to  air  his  learning  in  the  Sen- 
ate, using  Latin  and  Greek  phrases  more  as  a 
freshman  than  as  a  scholar,  though  it  is  certain 


PEIENDSHIPS  AKD  CHAEACTERISTICS    317 

that  he  did  have  a  tolerable  acquaintance  with  the 
classics. 

Wherein  he  failed  was  as  a  speculative  philoso- 
pher. He  ignored  or  despised  the  arts  of  the  school- 
men. Although  he  never  used  any  of  the  classic 
models  in  his  speeches,  there  is  some  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  he  looked  upon  himself  as  the  American 
Burke.  He  much  overestimated  the  effect  which 
his  utterances  had  on  the  public.  He  believed 
that  the  attention  of  the  American  people  was 
centred  on  '' Benton,"  as  he  was  wont  to  speak  of 
himself  in  a  high,  impersonal  fashion,  much  more 
so  than  the  situation  warranted. 

His  attacks  on  Calhoun  were  at  times  modeled, 
as  he  thought,  on  the  orations  of  Cicero  against 
Cataline,  yet  there  was  not  the  slightest  resem- 
blance between  them  except  in  the  intense  patriot- 
ism which  characterized  both.  Indeed,  Benton 
lived  so  much  apart  from  men  in  his  intellectual 
activities  that  he  became  largely  divorced  from  the 
society  which  surrounded  him,  and  in  time  he  began 
to  look  upon  his  isolation  as  due  to  his  own  pre- 
ponderating importance.  There  is  no  doubt  of  this 
and  many  instances  might  be  multiplied  to  show 
how  he  felt,  as  for  instance,  his  belief  that  every 
American  would  buy  his  '^Thirty  Years'  View.'^ 


318  THOMAS  H.  BEXTOIN" 

But  it  would  be  wrong  to  bring  forward  this  feature 
of  his  character  too  prominently.  He  had  so  many 
virtues  that  his  petty  vanities  and  his  egotism  were 
not  objectionable  to  his  peers,  once  they  came  to 
understand  the  man.  It  is  evident  that  he  was 
little  given  to  introspection  in  which  he  differed 
greatly  from  Adams.  He  was  impulsive  and  dog- 
matic, and  seemed  anxious  only  to  get  facts  from 
his  associates,  caring  little  for  their  views.  In  his 
later  years  he  was  greatly  irritated  over  opposition 
to  himself  in  Missouri.  He  would  not  permit  the 
slightest  interruption  in  his  public  speeches  to  con- 
stituents and  when  any  was  attempted  would  pro- 
ceed in  his  lordly  manner  to  pour  viti'iol  upon  the 
devoted  head  of  his  opponent.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  on  these  occasions  he  displayed  discretion  or 
that  he  was  always  right.  He  used  abuse  instead  of 
argument  and  at  times  indulged  in  language  which 
was  neither  refined  nor  justifiable.  This  habit  grew 
as  he  saw  that  the  people  of  Missouri  were  turning 
from  him  at  a  time  when  he  looked  upon  himself 
as  the  most  important  man  in  the  country  and  one 
whom  his  state  could  not  do  without.  These  faults 
brought  about  his  own  undoing. 

His  hatred  of  dictation  was  such  that  he  never 
would  attend  a  caucus  of  any  kind.     He  considered 


PEIENDSHIPS  AND  CHAEACTEEISTICS    319 

that  it  was  undemocratic  and  subversive  of  justice, 
and  that  it  relegated  the  power  really  to  a  minority 
as  was  often  the  case  when  a  bare  majority  of  the 
majority  were  able  to  control  legislation.  He  also 
had  a  distrust  of  national  conventions,  which  did 
not  appeal  to  his  sense  of  fitness.  He  liked  the 
older  method  of  nominations  by  resolutions  of  mass 
meetings,  or  of  legislatures,  or  possibly  of  state  or 
county  conventions.  The  two-thirds  rule  was  par- 
ticularly obnoxious  to  him  especially  after  1844 
when  it  killed  Van  Buren  whom  he  was  anxious  to 
see  nominated. 

Another  annoyance  was  the  established  custom 
of  allowing  members  to  pair  on  any  question.  This 
was  putting  a  premium  on  absence  from  Congress 
and  to  him  seemed  little  less  than  a  crime.  In  his 
early  days  the  compensation  of  a  member  was  eight 
dollars  a  day — about  twelve  hundred  dollars  a  year. 
Many  members  could  not  give  up  their  time  entirely 
for  such  a  sum  and  found  it  convenient  to  pair  and 
go  home.  Benton  made  it  his  proud  boast  that  he 
was  in  the  Senate  every  day  from  the  opening  to 
the  close  of  the  session  unless  detained  by  illness, 
and  he  was  insistent  that  others  should  be  as  faith- 
ful as  he. 

All  great  men  have  their  strong  individualities. 


320  THOMAS  H.  BE:N^TOif 

It  would  be  hard  to  pick  out  a  man  in  all  our  his- 
tory who  has  in  any  respect  resembled  Benton. 
He  stood  alone  among  all  his  peers  and  cared  very 
little  for  the  approbation  of  other  men — certainly 
not  enough  to  change  the  current  of  his  thoughts  or 
take  any  action  that  would  be  contrary  to  what  he 
deemed  the  plain  duty  before  him.  It  would  be 
idle  to  say  that  he  was  without  faults  or  limitations, 
but  it  is  nothing  less  than  the  truth  to  assert  that 
he  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  American 
statesmen.  His  record  of  public  service  has  per- 
haps been  as  important  for  good  as  that  of  any  of 
the  great  characters  in  our  history.  Had  it  been 
his  good  fortune  early  in  life  to  have  come  under 
the  refining  influences  of  the  best  culture  of  America 
it  would  have  greatly  improved  him,  though  it 
might  by  the  same  token  have  made  it  impossible 
for  him  to  achieve  the  career  which  he  has  left  to 
posterity.  Benton  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most 
forceful  men  of  his  age  but  owing  to  many  circum- 
stances he  has  left  smaller  impress  upon  the  public 
mind  than  many  of  his  associates,  who  were  not 
only  less  virile  but  who  accomplished  less  for  the 
country.  As  was  remarked  in  the  opening  chapter 
of  this  volume,  he  died  just  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War  and  there  was  such  a  plethora  of  dis- 


FRIENDSHIPS  AND  CHARACTERISTICS    321 

tinguished  men  arising  out  of  that  conflict  that 
Benton's  name  has  suffered,  undeserved  eclipse 
which  is  now  being  removed  under  the  searching 
light  of  historical  investigation. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ORATOE  AND  AUTHOR 

That  Benton's  memory  survives  at  all  is  due 
largely  to  the  monumental  work,  '' Thirty  Years' 
View  of  the  United  States  Senate,"  which  he  com- 
pleted shortly  before  his  death.  There  is  scarcely 
a  single  book  of  its  kind  that  is  so  valuable  to  the 
historian  or  student,  but  it  is  very  little  read  by 
any  one  else.  When  Benton  lost  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  he  began  this  work  and  completed  it  with 
incredible  rapidity.  He  collected  private  papers 
from  Jackson  and  others.  He  had  always  been 
careful  to  preserve  his  own,  so  that  the  first  volume 
contains  a  most  authoritative  commentary  on 
many  of  the  important  events  in  our  history. 
This  he  wrote  with  his  own  hand  but  it  is  a  most 
curious  composition.  He  did  not  appear  openly 
on  the  title  page  as  its  author  and  a  portion  of  it 
is  written  in  the  third  person.  At  other  times  he 
freely  uses  the  first  personal  pronoun.  Again  he 
speaks  of  himself  as  *'the  author  of  this  View"  or 
as  ^'Mr.  Benton."  While  for  the  most  part  the 
record  is  chronological,  there  are  very  important 


OEATOB  AND  AUTHOR  323 

lapses  in  it  and  many  things  are  introduced  in 
an  unusual  manner. 

He  was  at  work  on  his  second  volume  when  his 
house  and  all  its  valuable  contents  were  burned. 
He  started  to  work  again  philosophically  but  he 
frequently  laments  the  loss  of  the  papers,  and  the 
second  volume,  which  ought  to  be  the  more  im- 
portant of  the  two,  is  therefore  less  so  than  it 
should  be.  His  remarkable  memory  made  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  utter  statements  on  his  own  author- 
ity and  these  must  be  accepted  as  facts,  though  the 
original  documents  would  have  been  priceless. 
The  volumes  were  issued  some  years  apart  and  were 
widely  read  at  the  time,  though  he  expected  for 
them  a  much  greater  circulation  than  they  obtained. 
Now  it  is  possible  to  purchase  them  for  a  small 
sum  at  second-hand  book  stores. 

Benton's  intention  was  to  make  this  work  an 
argument  as  well  as  a  history.  Didactically  it 
was  devoted  to  showing  that  there  was  no  fear  the 
North  would  interfere  with  slavery  j  that  it  never 
had  done  so ;  that  Calhoun  was  wrong  in  saying 
that  it  had  or  would  do  so  ;  and  that  the  South 
Carolinian  himself  in  his  earlier  and  better  years 
had  entertained  liberal  views  on  the  subject.  Per- 
haps Benton's  hope  was  that  he  could  prove  nullifi- 


324  THOMAS  H.  BEKTON 

cation  so  absurd  historically,  and  personally  as 
regarded  its  followers,  that  it  would  be  possible  to 
stem  the  rising  tide  of  rebellion.  He  devoted 
much  space  to  showing  that  Calhoun  had  ac- 
quiesced in  the  refusal  to  take  Texas  in  1818  and 
succeeded,  though  the  papers  he  sought  had  been 
abstracted  from  the  files  of  the  State  Department. 
Still  he  told  his  story  so  circumstantially  and  with 
such  an  array  of  corroborative  evidence,  that  there 
is  no  longer  a  doubt  of  its  truth.  He  made  the 
mistake  of  supposing  that  the  Southern  people  after 
the  Compromises  of  1850  desired  any  such  proof. 
They  were  bent  upon  a  cotton  empire  of  their  own 
and  were  not  to  be  convinced  against  their  will. 

The  unfortunate  part  of  the  work  is  that  it  ends 
very  abruptly  and  just  at  the  time  when  he  might 
have  given  us  much  that  would  now  be  interesting 
and  helpful.  He  refused  to  continue  it  with  much 
detail  after  the  Compromises  of  1850,  evidently 
hoping  that  an  agreement  could  be  reached  and 
having  no  desire  needlessly  to  wound  the  feelings 
of  any  person.  He  omitted  a  good  many  things 
that  he  might  have  told  us.  In  the  book  there  is 
very  little  that  is  personally  offensive  regarding 
any  man.  It  is  appeal  and  not  invective.  Later 
on  he  prepared  for  a  new  edition  a  slight  biograph- 


OEATOE  AIS^D  AUTHOR  325 

ical  sketch  of  himself  which  throws  little  light  on 
his  career,  and  is  mostly  devoted  to  his  public 
policy  with  which  every  one  was  already  familiar. 

As  a  rule  Benton  wrote  very  badly.  He  never 
mastered  the  simplest  rules  of  composition.  Some- 
times his  sentences  contain  two  hundred  words,  and 
are  so  full  of  dependent  clauses  that  the  meaning  is 
vague.  He  delighted  in  veiled  allusions,  and  in 
reading  the  book  there  are  times  when  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  whether  he  is  speaking  for  himself 
or  not.  He  wrote  many  short  appreciations  of  the 
great  men  he  had  known  and  was  fond  of  obituary 
comments.  His  fine  vein  of  sentiment  was  often 
spoiled  by  a  bungling  manner  of  expression. 

Benton's  other  great  work  was  an  abridgment 
of  the  Debates  in  Congress  from  the  beginning 
down  to  1850.  This  was  a  colossal  undertaking, 
calling  for  untiring  industry  and  no  little  judg- 
ment. It  comprises  many  volumes  and  is  still 
a  standard  work,  though  it  loses  much  from  the 
fact  that  in  early  times  speeches  were  not  re- 
ported verhatim  but  in  the  present  Hansard  style 
of  the  British  Parliament,  in  which  the  sense  and 
the  language  for  the  most  part  are  preserved,  with- 
out verbal  accuracy.  This  immense  task  was  com- 
pleted  in   about  a  year   and  without    assistance. 


326  THOMAS  H.  BENTOX 

Indeed  he  never  employed  a  clerk  until  in  his 
last  days.  His  penmanship  was  very  florid,  given 
to  floui'ishes  but  perfectly  legible. 

His  only  other  book  was  an  argument  against 
the  Dred  Scott  decision.  This  was  a  political 
tract  and  his  last  literary  effort,  some  of  it  be- 
ing dictated  when  he  was  too  weak  to  speak  above 
a  whisper.  It  was  a  strong  paper  for  the  times. 
It  completely  demolished  the  Taney  theory  that 
slavery  was  a  national  institution,  penetrating  by 
virtue  of  the  Constitution  wherever  that  instrument 
had  effect.  What  angered  Benton  most  was  the 
declaration  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  un- 
constitutional on  the  ground  that  Congress  had  no 
right  to  legislate  against  slavery  in  the  territories. 
It  is  true  that  at  this  time  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise had  been  repealed  by  Congress  and  the 
decision  was  of  no  practical  effect  so  far  as  that 
legislation  was  concerned ;  but  as  slavery  still  ex- 
isted and  the  status  of  some  of  the  territories  was 
not  yet  fixed,  Benton  was  alarmed.  He  saw  that 
the  result  of  this  opinion, — for  it  was  that  rather 
than  a  decision,  as  the  Dred  Scott  case  had  been 
dismissed  on  a  technicality  and  there  was  no  oc- 
casion for  the  obiter  dicta  which  followed — would 
be  to  make  the  South  much  more  bitter  and  that 


OEATOE  AND  AUTHOR  327 

the  Kortli  would  resist  its  expression  of  resentment 
by  every  possible  means.  He  had  lived  to  see  the 
Border  War  burst  out  in  its  fury  just  beyond  the 
confines  of  Missouri ;  to  see  Senator  Atchison,  his 
colleague,  become  the  leader  of  the  radical  pro- 
slavery  party  ;  and  he  wrote  for  posterity  his  pro- 
test against  the  heresies  of  the  school  of  nullifiers 
who  had  now  become  almost  open  secessionists. 

This  work  created  much  attention  at  the  time  it 
was  issued,  but  pretty  soon  the  war  came  on  and 
with  it  the  whole  slavery  question  was  eliminated. 
To-day  it  is  still  one  of  the  ablest  treatises  on  the 
whole  subject,  though  interest  in  it  is  academic 
rather  than  practical. 

During  his  career  Benton  published,  in  pamphlet 
form,  many  of  his  speeches  which  he  circulated  ex- 
tensively. Aside  from  the  works  already  men- 
tioned, his  literary  efforts  were  confined  to  his  early 
editorship  of  the  Missouri  Enquirer,  which  was 
more  vigorous  than  polite,  more  strenuous  than 
elegant  in  style.  He  frequently  contributed  to  the 
Globe,  but  did  not  sign  his  articles.  He  wrote 
many  letters  to  his  constituents  and  others  and  was 
especially  strong  in  stating  his  views  when  invited 
by  political  bodies  to  address  them,  although  their 
invitations  were  almost  invariably  declined.     His 


328  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

greatest  speech  outside  of  the  Senate  and  Missouri 
was  in  Faneuil  Hall,  in  Boston,  not  long  before  his 
death. 

We  have  seen  that  Benton  was  vain  of  his  oratory 
and  without  much  reason.  He  spoke  incessantly 
and  his  set  speeches  were  prepared  with  great  care. 
Here  again  we  see  the  faults  of  his  style.  He  lacked 
the  power  of  concentration  and  generally  was  not 
lucid.  In  matters  pertaining  to  finance  he  was  at 
his  best,  for  here  he  dealt  with  cold  facts  ;  but  when 
he  let  his  imagination  have  free  rein,  he  was  likely 
to  wander.  He  never  tired  of  calling  up  the  his- 
tory of  Greece  and  Eome  for  examples  and  prece- 
dents or  warnings.  Though  this  was  a  custom  of 
his  age,  he  certainly  exceeded  any  normal  limit, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  those  who  read  his  speeches 
were  greatly  edified  by  his  display  of  historical 
knowledge.  When  worked  up  to  a  high  pitch  of 
feeling,  Benton  was  seldom  choice  in  the  use  of 
language,  but  in  the  revision  of  his  speeches  he 
eliminated  many  of  the  things  which  would  have 
been  more  interesting  than  some  that  were  allowed 
to  stand. 

His  voice  was  strong  but  his  throat  weak,  often 
bleeding  freely  after  a  long  speech.  When  he  had 
an  important  address  to  make,  he  would  sometimes 


ORATOR  AND  AUTHOR  329 

keep  almost  absolute  silence  for  three  or  four  days. 
In  the  nielee  of  forensic  debate,  he  would  often 
become  so  husky  that  he  could  scarcely  be  heard. 
His  throat  affection  was  a  result  of  his  early  tend- 
ency to  tuberculosis.  If  in  early  youth  he  could 
have  come  under  the  care  of  a  good  teacher  of 
elocution,  he  would  have  been  greatly  benefited. 
He  was  likely  to  confound  noise  with  impressive- 
ness.  Clay's  voice  was  one  of  the  most  perfect  in 
history.  So  clear  was  it  that  it  was  said  people  in 
the  gallery  could  hear  perfectly  when  he  spoke  to  a 
neighbor  in  a  whisper,  at  the  same  time  that  Benton 
was  making  the  chamber  resound  with  his  voice. 

It  is  essential  to  a  proper  understanding  of 
Benton  that  a  few  brief  extracts  be  given  from  his 
speeches  and  writings  since  they  well  exhibit  his 
cast  of  mind.  As  preserved,  the  speeches  are 
almost  destitute  of  that  wit  for  which  he  was  far- 
famed.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  he  considered 
such  exhibitions  as  purely  temporary  in  effect  and 
liable  to  misconstruction  when  read. 

In  1824  he  made  the  first  of  many  speeches  in 
favor  of  a  change  of  the  method  of  electing  presi- 
dent and  vice-president,  a  subject  that  was  dear  to 
his  heart,  though  he  could  seldom  keep  an  audience. 
He  had  a  plan  which  was  scarcely  better  than  the 


330  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

one  now  employed.  It  was  to  have  a  direct  election 
in  each  Congressional  district,  the  vote  in  such  dis- 
trict counting  as  one  electoral  vote  for  the  man  who 
received  the  largest  number  of  popular  votes.  This 
entirely  eliminated  the  votes  based  on  senatorships 
and  was  opposed  by  the  smaller  states  which  were 
naturally  averse  to  suffering  any  loss  of  power. 

In  the  course  of  a  very  long  argument  in  which 
he  went  over  a  great  deal  of  history  this  occurs  : 

"Of  the  twenty-five  centuries  that  the  Eoman 
state  has  existed,  to  what  period  do  we  look  for  the 
generals  and  statesmen,  the  poets  and  orators,  the 
philosophers  and  historians,  the  sculptors,  painters, 
and  architects,  whose  immortal  works  have  fixed 
upon  their  country  the  admiring  eyes  of  all  suc- 
ceeding ages  ?  Is  it  to  the  reigns  of  the  seven  first 
kings  ? — to  the  reigns  of  the  emperors,  proclaimed 
by  the  praetorian  bands? — to  the  reigns  of  the 
Sovereign  Pontiffs,  chosen  by  a  select  body  of 
electors  in  a  conclave  of  most  holy  cardinals?  No 
— we  look  to  none  of  these,  but  to  that  short  inter- 
val of  four  centuries  and  a  half  which  lies  between 
the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins,  and  the  re-establish- 
ment of  monarchy  in  the  person  of  Octavius  Csesar. 
It  is  to  this  short  period,  during  which  the  consuls, 
tribunes,  and  praetors,  were  annually  elected  by  a 


OEATOE  AND  AUTHOE  331 

direct  vote  of  the  people,  to  which  we  look  our- 
selves, and  to  which  we  direct  the  infant  minds  of 
our  children,  for  all  the  works  and  monuments  of 
Eoman  greatness;  for  roads,  bridges,  and  aque- 
ducts constructed ;  for  victories  gained,  nations 
vanquished,  commerce  extended,  treasure  im- 
ported, libraries  founded,  learning  encouraged, 
the  arts  flourishing,  the  city  embellished,  and  the 
kings  of  the  earth  humbly  suing  to  be  admitted 
into  the  friendship,  and  taken  under  the  protection, 
of  the  Eoman  people.  It  was  of  this  magnificent 
period  that  Cicero  spoke,  when  he  proclaimed  the 
people  of  Eome  to  be  the  masters  of  kings,  and  the 
conquerors  and  commanders  of  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  And,  what  is  wonderful,  during  this 
whole  period,  in  a  succession  of  four  hundred  and 
fifty  annual  elections,  the  people  never  once  pre- 
ferred a  citizen  to  the  consulship  who  did  not  carry 
the  prosperity  and  the  glory  of  the  Eepublic  to  a 
point  beyond  that  at  which  he  had  found  it.^^ 

This  is  not  very  consequential.  It  is  not  very 
well  done  and  not  altogether  true.  There  are  col- 
umns of  such  talk  which  seem  to  have  very  slight 
connection  with  the  subject  in  hand.  Clay  would 
have  illuminated  it  by  talking  very  briefly  of  his- 
tory and  paying  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  existing 


332  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

conditions,  while  Webster  in  a  few  jMiltonian  sen- 
tences would  have  expressed  much  more  than  there 
is  in  pages  of  Benton' s  effort. 

When  called  upon  to  speak  without  preparation 
Benton  often  made  a  better  showing.  Then  he  had 
no  time  to  look  up  precedents  or  concoct  long 
sentences.  We  have  already  seen  how  vigorously 
he  opposed  the  Panama  mission  in  which  Clay  was 
so  much  interested,  and  in  a  speech  of  some  warmth 
he  had  this  to  say  on  a  burning  topic  : 

^'  Our  policy  toward  Hayti,  the  old  San  Domingo, 
has  been  fixed  for  three  and  thirty  years.  We 
trade  with  her,  but  no  diplomatic  relations  have 
been  established  between  us.  We  purchase  coffee 
from  her,  and  pay  her  for  it ;  but  we  interchange 
no  consuls  or  ministers.  We  receive  no  mulatto 
consuls,  or  black  ambassadors  from  her.  And 
why  ?  Because  the  peace  of  eleven  States  in  this 
Union  will  not  permit  the  fruits  of  a  successful 
negro  insurrection  to  be  exhibited  among  them.  It 
will  not  permit  black  consuls  and  ambassadors  to 
establish  themselves  in  our  cities,  and  to  parade 
through  our  country,  and  give  to  their  fellow 
blacks  in  the  United  States,  proof  in  hand  of  the 
honors  which  await  them,  for  a  like  successful 
effort  on  their  part.     It  will  not  permit  the  fact  to 


OEATOE  AND  AUTHOR  333 

be  seen,  and  told,  that  for  the  murder  of  their  mas- 
ters and  mistresses,  they  are  to  find  friends  among 
the  white  people  of  these  United  States.  Xo,  this 
is  a  question  which  has  been  determined  here  for 
three  and  thirty  years ;  one  which  has  never  been 
open  for  discussion,  at  home  or  abroad,  neither 
under  the  presidency  of  General  Washington,  of  the 
first  Mr.  Adams,  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Madison,  or 
Mr.  Monroe.  It  is  one  which  cannot  be  discussed 
in  this  chamber  on  this  day ;  and  shall  we  go  to 
Panama  to  discuss  it !  I  take  it  in  the  mildest  sup- 
posed character  of  this  Congress — shall  we  go  there 
to  advise  and  consult  in  council  about  it  ?  \yho  are 
to  advise  and  sit  in  judgment  upon  it?  Five  na- 
tions who  have  already  put  the  black  man  upon  an 
equality  with  the  white,  not  only  in  their  constitu- 
tions but  in  real  life  :  five  nations  who  have  at  this 
moment  (at  least  some  of  them)  black  generals  in 
their  armies  and  mulatto  senators  in  their  con- 
gresses !" 

This  is  better.     It  is  direct,  incisive  and  states 
openly  what  others  had  thought  but  had  feared  to 


Another  interesting  example  is  given  in  his 
tribute  to  Jefferson  who  had  just  died  :  ^^He  was 
no  speaker,  but  a  most  instructive  and  fascinating 


334  THOMAS  H.  BEXTON 

talker  ;  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  even 
if  it  had  not  been  sistered  by  innumerable  classic 
productions,  would  have  placed  him  at  the  head  of 
political  writers.  I  never  saw  him  but  once,  when 
I  went  to  visit  him  in  his  retirement ;  and  then  I 
felt,  for  four  hours,  the  charms  of  his  bewitching 
talk.  I  was  then  a  young  senator,  just  coming  on 
the  stage  of  public  life — he  a  patriarchal  statesman 
just  going  off  the  stage  of  natural  life,  and  evidently 
desirous  to  impress  some  views  of  policy  upon  me 
— a  design  in  which  he  certainly  did  not  fail.  I 
honor  him  as  a  patriot  of  the  Eevolution — as  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Eepublic — as  the  founder  of 
the  political  school  to  which  I  belong  j  and  for  the 
purity  of  character  which  he  possessed  in  com- 
mon with  his  compatriots,  and  which  gives  to 
the  birth  of  the  United  States  a  beauty  of  par- 
entage which  the  genealogy  of  no  other  nation  can 
show.'' 

The  personal  note  in  this  is  rather  fine  and  the 
sentiment  is  not  badly  expressed.  In  writing  of 
men,  Benton  always  appeared  to  better  advantage 
than  when  discussing  principles. 

He  made  innumerable  speeches  on  the  subject  of 
cheap  or  free  lands  for  the  poor.  No  man  under- 
stood the  question  better  than  he  but  he  was  not 


OEATOE  AND  AUTHOR  335 

always  happy  in  his  arguments.     The  following  ex- 
presses his  whole  philosophy  : 

'^Tenantry  is  unfavorable  to  freedom.  It  lays 
the  foundation  for  separate  orders  in  society,  an- 
nihilates the  love  of  country,  and  weakens  the  spirit 
of  independence.  The  farming  tenant  has,  in  fact, 
no  country,  no  hearth,  no  domestic  altar,  no  house- 
hold god.  The  freeholder,  on  the  contrary,  is  the 
natural  supporter  of  a  free  government ;  and  it 
should  be  the  policy  of  republics  to  multiply  their 
freeholders,  as  it  is  the  policy  of  monarchies  to  mul- 
tiply tenants.  We  are  a  republic,  and  we  wish  to 
continue  so  :  then  multiply  the  class  of  freeholders  j 
pass  the  public  lands  cheaply  and  easily  into  the 
hands  of  the  people  ;  sell,  for  a  reasonable  price,  to 
those  who  are  able  to  pay  ;  and  give,  without  price, 
to  those  who  are  not.  I  say  give,  without  price,  to 
those  who  are  not  able  to  pay  ;  and  that  which  is 
so  given,  I  consider  as  sold  for  the  best  of  prices  ; 
for  a  price  above  gold  and  silver ;  a  price  which 
cannot  be  carried  away  by  delinquent  officers,  nor 
lost  in  failing  banks,  nor  stolen  by  thieves,  nor 
squandered  by  an  improvident  and  extrava- 
gant administration.  It  brings  a  price  above 
rubies — a  race  of  virtuous  and  independent  la- 
borers, the  true  supporters  of  their  country,  and 


336  THOMAS  H.  BENTOX 

the  stock  from  which  its  best  defenders  must  be 
drawn." 

The  ideas  here  expressed  are  admirable.  They 
are  those  which  the  country  finally  adopted  to  its 
infinite  gain.  But  there  is  an  awkwardness  of  ex- 
pression which  is  notable  and  as  this  speech  had  the 
benefit  of  at  least  two  revisions  in  type  after  it  was 
delivered,  it  can  be  seen  that  the  fault  lay  in  Ben- 
ton's fundamental  lack  of  literary  style.  In  fact, 
of  all  the  many  speeches  that  he  made  in  Congress, 
there  is  hardly  one  that  is  ever  quoted  in  these 
days, — indeed  hardly  a  single  expression  is  remem- 
bered. This  is  the  more  remarkable  because  he 
spoke  so  often  and  his  constant  hammering  at  a  sub- 
ject usually  resulted  in  success.  On  the  contrary, 
people  to-day  continue  to  read  the  speeches  of  Web- 
ster, Clay  and  Calhoun,  and  remember  their  words, 
though  as  a  matter  of  fact  these  statesmen  often 
lost  their  measures  and  failed  in  their  contentions. 

We  have  seen  that  Benton  opened  the  debate  on 
the  Foot  resolution  in  which  Webster  and  Hayne 
had  that  greatest  of  forensic  duels.  Foot's  resolu- 
tion of  inquiry  into  the  desirability  of  stopping  the 
survey  of  public  lands  and  thus  taking  them  out  of 
the  market  was  concurrent  with  one  in  the  House 
which  looked  to  a  division  of  the  proceeds  of  land 


ORATOR  AKD  AUTHOR  33? 

sales  among  the  states.  There  are  a  few  sentences 
in  this  opening  speech  by  Benton  that  are  worthy 
of  remembrance.  He  was  the  only  speaker  who 
kept  to  his  text  in  that  debate,  and  the  following 
extract  shows  the  moral  fibre  of  the  man  as  well  as 
his  views  on  the  subject  : 

"I  will  vote  for  no  such  inquiry.  I  would  as 
soon  vote  for  inquiries  into  the  expediency  of  con- 
flagrating cities,  of  devastating  provinces,  and  of 
submerging  fruitful  lands  under  the  waves  of  the 
ocean.  I  take  my  stand  upon  a  great  moral  prin- 
ciple :  that  it  is  never  right  to  inquire  into  the  ex- 
pediency of  doing  wrong. 

"The  proposed  inquiry  is  to  do  wrong;  to  inflict 
unmixed,  unmitigated  evil  upon  the  new  States  and 
Territories.  Such  inquiries  are  not  to  be  tolerated. 
Courts  of  law  will  not  sustain  actions  which  have 
immoral  foundations  ;  legislative  bodies  should  not 
sustain  inquiries  which  have  iniquitous  conclusions. 
Courts  of  law  make  it  an  object  to  give  public  sat- 
isfaction in  the  administration  of  justice ;  legislative 
bodies  should  consult  the  public  tranquillity  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  measures.  They  should  not 
alarm  and  agitate  the  country;  yet,  this  inquiry,  if 
it  goes  on,  will  give  the  greatest  dissatisfaction  to 
the  new  States  in  the  West  and  South.     It  will  alarm 


338  THOMAS  H.  BENTON 

and  agitate  them,  and  ought  to  do  it.  It  will  con- 
nect itself  with  other  inquiries  going  on  elsewhere 
— in  the  other  end  of  this  building — in  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives — to  make  the  new  States  a  source 
of  revenue  to  the  old  ones,  to  deliver  them  up  to  a 
new  set  of  masters,  to  throw  them  as  grapes  into  the 
wine  press,  to  be  trod  and  squeezed  as  long  as  one 
drop  of  juice  could  be  pressed  from  their  hulls. 
These  measures  will  go  together  ;  and  if  that  resolu- 
tion passes,  and  this  one  passes,  the  transition  will 
be  easy  and  natural,  from  dividing  the  money  after 
the  lands  are  sold,  to  divide  the  lands  before  they 
are  sold,  and  then  to  renting  the  land  and  drawing 
an  annual  income,  instead  of  selling  it  for  a  price 
in  hand.  The  signs  are  portentous ;  the  crisis  is 
alarming  ,•  it  is  time  for  the  new  States  to  wake  up 
to  their  danger,  and  to  prepare  for  a  struggle  which 
carries  ruin  and  disgrace  to  them,  if  the  issue  is 
against  them. ' ' 

Outside  of  his  speeches  on  financial  measures  this 
excerpt  is  perhaps  equal  to  anything  that  Benton 
has  preserved  for  us.  It  is  true  that  in  the  course 
of  the  debate  he  was  deceived  as  to  the  intentions 
of  Hayne  and  Calhoun,  but  his  position  was  sound 
and  he  consistently  adhered  to  it  through  his  whole 
career.     But  when  the  slavery  question  was  Intro- 


OEATOE  AND  AUTHOE  339 

duced,  he  returned  to  the  subject  in  another  speech, 
still  supposing  that  Calhoun  was  as  anxious  as  him- 
self to  allay  any  feeling  on  the  subject  and  to  pre- 
serve the  Union.  He  took  the  course  not  unusual 
in  those  days,  of  attacking  the  Abolitionists  and 
making  them  responsible  for  the  agitation,  though 
on  this  point  also  he  was  soon  to  be  undeceived. 
He  said: 

^^  I  can  truly  say,  that  slavery  in  the  abstract,  has 
but  few  advocates  or  defenders  in  the  slaveholding 
States,  and  that  slavery  as  it  is,  an  hereditary  in- 
stitution descended  upon  us  from  our  ancestors, 
would  have  fewer  advocates  among  us  than  it  has, 
if  those  who  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  subject 
would  only  let  us  alone.  The  sentiment  in  favor  of 
slavery  was  much  weaker  before  those  intermed- 
dlers  began  their  operations  than  it  is  at  present. 
The  views  of  leading  men  in  the  North  and  the 
South  were  indisputably  the  same  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  our  government.  Of  this  our  legislative 
history  contains  the  highest  proof.  The  foreign 
slave  trade  was  prohibited  in  Virginia,  as  soon  as 
the  Eevolution  began.  It  was  one  of  her  first  acts 
of  sovereignty.  In  the  convention  of  that  State 
which  adopted  the  federal  constitution,  it  was  an 
objection  to  that  instrument  that  it  tolerated  the 


340  THOMAS  H.  BENTOX 

African  slave-trade  for  twenty  years.  Nothing  that 
has  appeared  since  has  surpassed  the  indignant  de- 
nunciations of  this  traffic  by  Patrick  Henry,  George 
Mason,  and  others,  in  that  convention. 

"Sir,  I  regard  with  admiration,  that  is  to  say, 
with  wonder,  the  sublime  morality  of  those  who 
cannot  bear  the  abstract  contemplation  of  slavery, 
at  the  distance  of  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  miles 
off.  It  is  entirely  above,  that  is  to  say,  it  affects  a 
vast  superiority  over  the  moralitj^  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  the  apostles  of  Christ,  and  Christ  Him- 
self. Christ  and  the  apostles  appeared  in  a  prov- 
ince of  the  Eoman  empire,  when  that  empire  was 
called  the  Eoman  world,  and  that  world  was  filled 
with  slaves." 

There  is  not  much  eloquence  in  this  speech,  but 
from  it  we  learn  what  were  his  views  as  to  the 
Abolitionists. 

One  more  example  of  his  manner  of  composition 
must  suffice.  It  is  the  opening  of  the  chapter  on 
the  downfall  of  the  National  Bank  in  his  ' '  Thirty 
Years'  View."  As  he  was  perhaps  more  respon- 
sible than  any  man  for  having  slain  this  ''  dragon," 
he  naturally  was  much  elated  and  attempted  to  de- 
scribe it  in  his  very  best  vein.  We  have  here  per- 
haps the  most  characteristic  example  of  his  style, 


OEATOE  AND  AUTHOE  341 

when  he  is  anxious  to  make  a  favorable  impression, 
and  of  course  he  fails  lamentably  : 

"  When  the  author  of  the  ^neid  had  shown  the 
opening  grandeur  of  Eome,  he  deemed  himself  jus- 
tified in  departing  from  the  chronological  order  of 
events  to  look  ahead,  and  give  a  glimpse  of  the  dead 
Marcellus,  hope  and  heir  of  the  Augustan  empire ; 
in  the  like  manner  the  writer  of  this  View,  after 
having  shown  the  greatness  of  the  United  States 
Bank — exemplified  in  her  capacity  to  have  Jackson 
condemned — the  government  directors  and  a  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury  rejected — a  committee  of  the 
House  of  Eepresentatives  repulsed — the  country 
convulsed  and  agonized — and  to  obtain  from  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  a  committee  to  proceed 
to  the  city  of  Philadelphia  to  ^  wash  out  its  foul 
linen'  ; — after  seeing  all  this  and  beholding  the 
greatness  of  the  moneyed  power  at  the  culminating 
point  of  its  domination,  I  feel  justified  in  looking 
ahead  a  few  years  to  see  it  in  its  altered  phase — in 
its  ruined  and  fallen  estate." 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  is  a  single  sentence  and 
about  as  awkward  a  one  as  an  educated  man  could 
write. 

It  remains  to  be  said  that  although  Benton  had 
many  faults  as  a  writer  and  a  speaker,  he  was 


342  THOMAS  H.  BE:N"T0N 

much  more  successful  than  many  of  those  who 
were  greatly  his  superiors.  The  "Thirty  Years' 
View"  will  be  remembered  and  read  by  those  who 
seek  to  learn  the  history  of  the  times  involved, 
when  most  other  books  of  the  period  have  been 
lost  sight  of.  And  in  spite  of  the  lack  of  style,  or 
perhaps  because  of  the  peculiar  style  of  the  work, 
it  has  an  individual  flavor  that  is  not  at  all  dis- 
pleasing. The  book  bears  on  it  the  stamp  of  the 
man,  is  so  completely  a  revelation  of  his  thoughts, 
as  well  as  a  narrative  of  his  deeds,  that  we  could 
not  wish  it  different.  It  might  be  a  finer  literary 
composition  but  it  would  not  be  so  vital,  so  per» 
sonal — would  not  be  Benton. 


CHAPTEE  XYI 

THE  END 

There  is  something  beautiful  in  contemplating 
tlie  last  seven  years  of  Benton^  s  life.  At  an  age 
when  most  men  are  willing  to  retire  from  activity, 
he  fought  the  hardest  political  battles  of  his  life  and 
lost  them  all  but  one.  Such  reverses  would  have 
embittered  a  lesser  man ;  but  he  was  made  of 
sterner  stuff  and  to  the  last  was  hopeful.  When 
his  beloved  home,  containing  all  his  records  and 
literary  treasures,  was  burned  in  February,  1855,  he 
looked  on  with  composure  and  was  afterward  taken 
by  his  daughter  Jessie  to  her  own  house  near  by, 
where  she  records  :  ^'  Neither  of  us  had  slept,  but 
he  made  me  lie  down  and  we  talked  calmly  together 
as  only  those  who  love  one  another  can  talk  after 
a  calamity."  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  when 
(Congress  heard  of  the  disaster,  it  immediately  ad- 
journed as  a  mark  of  its  respect  and  sympathy  for 
him. 

His  wife  died  in  1854,  and  for  four  years  more 
Benton  strove  with  the  political  stars  in  their 
courses.     The  last  two  years  of  his  life  showed  a 


THOMAS  H.  BEXTOK 

constant  decline  in  physical  powers,  but  he  labored 
to  the  end  to  complete  his  literary  work. 

Two  years  before  his  death  he  suspected  that  his 
trouble  was  cancer.  Without  communicating  his 
fears  to  smy  one,  he  carefully  read  up  the  disease 
and  for  a  long  time  noted  the  symptoms,  which  he 
reported  to  the  physicians.  They  found  his  diag- 
nosis to  be  correct.  He  was  so  cheerful  that  they 
hoped  for  a  while  that  he  might  live,  but  even 
Benton's  indomitable  spirit  at  length  began  to  fail. 
He  had  said  as  a  young  man  when  attacked  by 
consumption:  ''If  it  had  been  a  battle,  I  would 
have  had  some  chance,  or  even  in  a  desperate  duel. 
But  for  this  there  is  no  chance.  All  was  fixed  and 
is  inevitable."  He  probably  had  the  same  view  of 
death  in  his  old  age.  He  disliked  the  thought  of 
dying  in  his  bed,  for  the  fighting  spirit  remained 
strong  to  the  last.  Always  a  man  of  deep  religious 
feeling  and  constant  in  his  Christian  duties,  he  now 
devoted  much  attention  to  putting  his  spiritual 
house  in  order.  The  end  came  at  his  Washington 
home,  Ar-)ril  10,  1858.  He  had  especially  re- 
quested  that  Congress  take  no  note  of  the  event ; 
it  did,  however,  adjourn  and  many  notable  men 
paid  tribute  to  his  personal  and  civic  virtues. 

It  is  pleasing  to  note  that  a  reaction  came  and 


THE  END  345 

the  people  of  Missouri  who  had  thrice  in  recent 
years  rejected  him,  now  did  their  best  to  atone  for 
their  insult  and  neglect.  The  funeral  in  St.  Louis 
was  the  most  notable  event  of  its  sort  that  has  ever 
taken  place  beyond  the  Mississippi  and  was  rivaled 
in  the  West  only  by  the  demonstrations  over  Clay 
a  few  years  before  at  Lexington,  and  later  by 
the  funeral  obsequies  of  Lincoln.  Business  was 
entirely  suspended  in  St.  Louis  and  the  cortege 
was  reported  to  be  two  miles  long,  as  every  sort  of 
civic  and  military  association  participated.  The 
body  was  laid  at  rest  in  Bellefontaine  Cemetery 
where  his  sons  had  already  been  buried  with 
other  members  of  the  Benton  family.  The  contem- 
poraneous accounts  of  the  funeral  indicate  that  this 
unanimous  expression  of  grief  and  sympathy  was 
genuine  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  both  city  and  state 
had  so  lately  rejected  his  services.  Benton's  rugged 
honesty  appealed  to  all  and  the  funeral  orations 
and  addresses,  of  which  there  were  many  then  and 
soon  afterward,  indicate  how  deep  was  the  hold 
which  Benton  had  upon  the  people  whom  he  had 
served  so  long.  Some  of  the  finest  tributes  came 
from  those  who  had  fought  him  hardest  in  the 
political  field  and  who  were  finally  responsible  for 
his  fall. 


<y 


346  THOMAS  H.  BEOT:0N 

A  handsome  monument  was  erected  in  one  of  the 
St.  Louis  parks.     The  heroic  statue  surmounting  it  ^^/' 
faces  the  West  and  the  index  finger  points  to  the 
setting  sun.     Beneath  is  the  inscription  taken  from   y 
one  of  his  speeches:   ''There  is  the  East:  there  is  ^ 
the  road  to  India." 

Even  in  death  and  defeat  Benton  was  a  victor. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  his  was  the  potent  voice 
that  held  Missouri  in  the  Union  against  all  the 
desperate  efforts  to  drive  her  into  secession.  There 
were  those  who  remembered  the  old  man  eloquent, 
those  who  had  heard  him  in  that  famous  campaign 
of  1856  when  he  went  up  and  down  the  state  plead- 
ing for  the  Union.  If  Missouri  had  joined  the 
Confederacy,  the  contest  would  have  been  longer 
and  more  dif&cult,  though  no  student  of  history  can 
believe  that  eventually  there  would  have  been  a 
different  result.  Of  those  who  in  and  out  of  season 
raised  their  voices  against  all  threats  or  suggestions 
of  disunion  ;  of  those  who  loved  to  smite  secession 
wherever  it  lifted  its  head,  no  man  was  more  ardent, 
more  continuous  in  his  labors,  more  uncompromis- 
ing and  more  effectual  than  Benton. 

When  the  time  came,  he  was  found  where  he 
predicted  he  would  be, — on  the  side  of  his  country 
and    the   Union.     Though  his   majestic  soul   had 


THE  END  347 

taken  flight  to  its  Maker,  his  principles  survived 
to  conquer. 

The  effort  has  been  made  in  these  pages  to  draw 
a  portrait  of  a  largely-forgotten  man  and  to  set  him 
properly  in  his  historical  niche.  It  is  likely  some 
will  think  too  much  is  claimed  for  one  whose  name 
has  left  such  slight  impress  on  the  popular  mind. 
But  there  has  been  no  purpose  in  this  sketch  to 
magnify  his  virtues,  or  to  exaggerate  the  services 
which  he  so  nobly  performed.  In  saying  that  he 
was  the  most  comprehensive  statesman  of  his  time 
it  is  not  denied  that  there  were  others  who  in  mere 
intellectual  ability  were  his  superiors  j  certainly 
there  were  those  who  exerted  more  direct  influence 
on  men  in  and  out  of  politics,  those  whose  voices 
were  more  forceful  on  many  public  questions.  But 
Benton  is  to  be  judged  not  solely  by  what  he  did 
but  also  by  what  he  aimed  to  do.  We  owe  to  him 
Oregon,  California,  the  cheap  land  system  that  has 
enriched  the  country  so  rapidly,  the  specie  stand- 
ard, the  transcontinental  railway  lines,  and  a  debt 
that  can  never  be  repaid  in  keeping  alive  the  fires 
of  patriotism  at  a  time  when  it  required  tremen- 
dous self-sacrifice  to  renounce  his  party.  Benton 
was  the  first  martyr  to  the  slavery  cause  since  he 
was  as  surely  struck  down  by  the  slave  power  as 


348  THOMAS  H.  BENTO:^' 

Charles  Sumner  and  lie  deserves  much  more  sym- 
pathy than  the  latter,  who  had  in  a  sense  provoked 
the  attack. 

That  Benton  was  often  too  dogmatic,  that  there 
were  occasions  when  he  mistook  stubbornness  for 
principle,  that  he  might  at  times  hav^e  been  more 
genial  and  less  arrogant,  we  do  not  deny.  These 
are  the  faults  which  show  the  strong  human  side  of 
the  man,  though  his  frailties  were  not  those  of  his 
age  or  those  of  most  of  his  colleagues.  They  do 
not  render  the  portrait  less  attractive.  On  the 
contrary,  we  can  but  admire  the  man  who  in  turn 
was  called  an  Apollo,  a  "wild  buffalo,"  and  a 
"gnarled  oak,"  and  whose  career  was  one  of  sin- 
gular success  and  unparalleled  usefulness. 

It  is  only  fitting  that  a  man  so  eminent  in  his 
time,  whose  principles  for  the  most  part  are  as 
sound  to-day  as  then  and  the  advantages  of  whose 
legislation  we  are  now  enjoying,  should  be  remem- 
bered gratefully.  This  is  neither  the  time  nor  the 
place  for  comparisons,  but  it  is  probable  that  there 
stands  to-day  on  the  statute  books  of  the  country 
more  wise  and  sound  legislation  that  can  fairly  be 
ascribed  to  Benton  than  to  any  other  man  who  ever 
sat  in  Congress ;  while  his  name  is  not  connected 
with  a  single  act  of  personal  dishonor,  or  a  single 


THE  END  349 

unworthy  piece  of  legislation.  This  is  a  record  fit 
to  be  the  epitaph  of  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the 
age. 

Or,  if  an  epitaph  be  needed,  could  a  better  one 
be  found  than  the  prophetic  words  in  which  he 
stated  his  position  to  Calhoun  ?  — 

*'  I  shall  be  found  in  the  right  place — on  the  side 
of  my  country  and  the  Union.  ^' 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Considering  how  large  a  place  Benton  occupied  on  the 
national  stage  for  thirty  years,  it  is  surprising  that  there  are  so 
few  books  dealing  directly  with  his  career.  The  principal 
source  of  information  is  his  own  large  work  in  two  volumes 
entitled,  "  Thirty  Years'  View  of  the  United  States  Senate," 
1854,  et  seq.,  and  a  new  edition,  with  index,  published  in  1893. 
Besides  this,  there  is  but  one  volume  devoted  to  Benton's  life  ; 
viz.,  Theodore  Roosevelt's  ''Thomas  H.  Benton,"  American 
Statesmen  Series,  1886.  In  the  same  Series  are  several  volumes 
which  contain  much  that  bears  on  Benton  or  the  political  in- 
terests with  which  he  was  connected;  viz.,  Schurz's  "  Clav  " 
(1887)  ;  Von  Hoist's  "Calhoun"  (1862);  Stevens'  "Gallatin" 
(1883)  and  Lothrop's  '"Seward"  (1896).  In  most  volumes  of 
history  dealing  with  the  period  from  1820  to  1850,  as  well  as 
in  reminiscences  of  statesmen  living  at  that  time,  there  will  be 
found  references  to  Benton,  but  not  nearly  so  many  as  one 
would  suppose.  This  is  partially  accounted  for  by  his  inde- 
pendent spirit  which  led  him  to  keep  aloof  from  combinations, 
and  by  the  fact  that  socially  he  was  almost  a  recluse.  Of  the 
works  consulted  in  preparing  this  volume,  the  following  are  a 
few  of  the  more  important: — 

James  G.  Blaine.     Twenty  Years  in  Congress,  1884. 

John  Quincy  Adams.     Diary,  1874,  et  seq. 

LuciEN  Care.     History  of   Missouri,   American  Common- 
wealth Series,  1888. 

John  Bach  McMaster.     History  of   the  People  of  the 
United  States,  1883,  et  seq. 

James  Pabton.     Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,  1860. 

Ben:  Perley  Poore.     Reminiscences,  1886. 

James  Ford  Rhodes.     History  of  the  United  States  from 
the  Compromises  of  1850,  1893,  et  seq. 

James  Schouler.     History  of  the  United  States,  1880,  et 
acq. 


BIBLIOGEAPHY  351 

W.  F.  SwiTZLER.     Illustrated  History  of  Missouri,  1879. 

RiCHABD  W.  Thompson.     Personal  Recollections  of  Sixteen 
Presidents,  1894. 

H.  Von  Holst.     Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States 
(translation),  1876,  et  seq. 

Thurlow  Weed.     Autobiography,  1883. 

Henry  Wise.     Seven  Decades  of  the  Union,  1871. 

The  above  list  is  far  from  exhaustive.  In  addition,  Niles' 
Register  and  the  Debates  of  Congress  have  been  freely  con- 
sulted. There  has  been  much  recourse  to  political  pamphlets 
and  broadsides  and  to  a  very  large  range  of  literature  in  which 
Benton  is  occasionally  mentioned,  though  not  with  much  de- 
tail. Mrs.  Jessie  Benton  Fremont  wrote  a  brief  sketch  of  her 
father  as  an  introduction  to  the  autobiography  of  her  husband. 
The  author  also  desires  to  acknowledge  the  aid  of  Colonel 
A.  K.  McClure  in  giving  not  only  many  personal  incidents  but 
an  historic  setting  of  Benton,  whom  he  well  knew  in  the  latter's 
last  years. 

Note. — Just  as  this  book  was  passing  through  the  press,  a 
biography  of  Benton  by  William  M.  Meigs  appeared,  and  ac- 
knowledgment is  made  for  the  use  of  a  few  personal  incidents 
concerning  him,  not  elsewhere  published. 


INDEX 


Abeedeen,  Lord,  on  slavery, 
226. 

Abolitionists,  radical  views 
of,  213;  hated  by  Benton, 
214;  mentioned,  220;  ap- 
prove of  Lord  Aberdeen's 
letter,  226 ;  attacked  by 
Benton,  339. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  candi- 
date for  presidency,  41  ; 
elected,  57 ;  on  compromise 
tariff,  124 ;  supports  bank, 
141  ;  on  Arkansas'  admis- 
sion, 219  ;  on  right  of  peti- 
tion, 220  ;  Benton's  eulogy 
on,  289. 

Alabama,  admitted  with 
slavery,  30. 

Alabama  Letters,  The,  311. 

Ancestry  of  Thomas  H.  Ben- 
ton, 15. 

Anti- Masonry,  opposed  by 
Benton,  305. 

Anti-slavery  societies,  friends 
in,  212. 

Arkansas,  territory  organized 
with  slavery.  30;  admitted 
as  a  state,  218. 

Army  service  of  Benton,  21. 

Ashburton,  Lord,  makes  treaty 
with  Webster,  194. 

Atchison,  David,  senator,  267; 
opposes  Benton,  275,  327. 

Banks,  general  suspension  of 
in  1837,  179. 


Bank-note  currency  (state), 
depreciation  of,  174. 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  see 
National  Bank. 

Barton,  David,  elected  sena- 
tor, 35. 

Benton,  Ann  Gooch,  mother 
of  Thomas,  16 ;  educates 
Thomas,  16 ;  removes  to 
Tennessee,  17 ;  establish- 
ment of,  17  ;  loses  five  chil- 
dren, 18. 

Benton,  children  of  Thomas 
H.,  302. 

Benton,  Jesse,  father  of 
Thomas,  15  ;  death  of,  16  ; 
friend  of  Daniel  Boone,  35. 

Benton,  Jesse,  brother  of 
Thomas,  quarrel  with  Jack- 
son, 22  ;  love  of  Thomas  for, 
304. 

Benton,  Jessie,  marries  John 
C.  Fremont,  209;  poverty 
of,  300. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  family 
tree,  15  ;  ancestry,  15 ; 
birth,  16;  father  dies,  16; 
education  of,  16,  17;  his 
love  of  music,  18,  299; 
cured  of  consumption,  18, 
19  ;  cotton  planter,  19  ;  first 
meets  Jackson,  20;  writes 
address  for  Jackson,  21  ; 
aide-de-camp  to  Jackson, 
20 ;  colonel,  20 ;  goes  to 
Canada    in    regular    army, 


INDEX 


363 


21 ;  quarrel  with  Jackson, 
22  ;  removes  to  St.   Louis, 
22  ;  legislative  experience  in 
Tennessee.    23  ;    edits    En- 
quirer, 23  ;  law  practice,  23  ; 
habits,  24  ;  duel  with  Lucas, 
25  ;  as  an  editor,  26  ;  sena- 
torial election,  35  ;  defends 
unrestricted  slavery  in  Mis- 
souri, 38  ;  enters  senate,  39  ; 
marries  Elizabeth   McDow- 
ell,    39;    early    senatorial 
experience,     45 ;      financial 
and    land    policy    of,    46  ; 
views  on  Texas,  48  ;  views 
on  Oregon,    49 ;    views  on 
salt    monopoly,    51;    views 
on  internal  improvements, 
52  ;  supports  Clay  for  presi- 
dent in  1824-5,  53 ;  recon- 
ciled to  Jackson,   56  ;  sup- 
ports Jackson  for  presidency, 
56  ;  did  not  believe  "  cor- 
rupt   bargain"    story,    59; 
rebuked  by  King,  59 ;  views 
on    Monroe    Doctrine,    62 ; 
discusses  the  Haiti  question, 
64 ;    conduct    in    duel    be- 
tween Clay  and  Randolph, 
64  ;  as  Jackson's  right  arm, 
68 ;    as  a  civil  service  re- 
former,   71;    against  office- 
seeking    relatives,     71  ; 
against    West    Point,    72 ; 
first  views  of   nallification, 
73  ;  opposes  the  Foot  Reso- 
lution, 84;   reply  to   Web- 
ster, 86;  opposes  Webster's 
views    in  reply  to  Hayne, 
95  ;  at  nullification  dinner, 
99  ;   declines  cabinet  port- 
folio,   101;    fights  the   tri- 
umvirate,     105 ;      supports 
Van  Biu-en,  106  ;  writes  to 


Van    Buren,    107;    opposes 
the    compromise    tariff    of 
1833,    125  ;   loyalty   to  the 
Union,    133;    wars  on    na- 
tional   bank,    135;    attaxjks 
Clay  and  Webster  on  bank 
policy,  142;  replies  to  Clay 
concerning  Jackson  matter, 
146  ;  starts  expunging  cam- 
paign, 157  ;  secures  passage 
of  resolution,  160  ;  attacked 
by  roughs,  161  ;  writes  for 
the  Globe,  167 ;  specie  stand- 
ard secured,    172;   prepares 
specie  chcular,  175  ;  defends 
Jackson's  policy,    180;    re- 
pulsed by  Van  Buren,  180  ; 
blames  bank  for  panic,  181 ; 
opposes  land  surplus  distri- 
bution, 189;  favors  fortifi- 
cations, 191 ;  mentioned  for 
presidency,    192;    on   Caro- 
line   affair,    195;    on  slave 
trade  suppression,  196; 
"watch-dog    of    the   treas- 
ury," 197 ;  views  on  electric 
telegraph  and  railways,  197 ; 
dislikes   Cushing,    198;   on 
Oregon      boundary,      206 ; 
views  on  slavery  agitation, 
212  ;  opposes  Calhoun's  fed- 
eral    mail     bill    regarding 
abolition   newspapers,  214  ; 
against    slavery    agitation, 
215  ;  opposes  Texas  annex- 
ation,  225;  favors  Walker 
compromise,    228;    opposes 
Wilmot  Proviso,    233  ;    hia 
Mexican  War  policy,  237  ; 
nominated    lieutenant-gen- 
eral, 238 ;  not  confirmed  but 
made    major-general,    239 ; 
supports  Cass,  243  ;  remains 
in  Washington  during  sena- 


354 


INDEX 


tonal  fight  in  Missouri,  246  ; 
supports  California's  claims, 
250 ;  opposes  Clay's  Com- 
promises of  1850,  253  ;  al- 
tercation with  Clay,  261  ; 
assaulted  by  Foote,  261  ; 
supports  Taylor,  261;  op- 
poses protest  of  radical 
slavery  men,  265  ;  estab- 
lishes pony  express  and 
telegraph  and  favors  trans- 
continental railway,  269 ; 
Missouri  drifts  from  Ben- 
ton, 275  ;  he  opposes  Jack- 
son resolutions,  276;  Cal- 
houn's slur  on  Benton  and 
reply,  276 ;  defeated  for 
sixth  term,  277;  elected  to 
House,  277;  opposes  Know 
Nothings,  278;  opposes  re- 
peal of  Missouri  Compro- 
mise, 280  ;  his  speeches  in 
the  House,  281  ;  talk  with 
Randolph,  283 ;  advice  from 
King,  284;  visit  to  Jeffer- 
son, 284  ;  regard  for  Macon, 
284  ;  relations  with  Jack- 
son, 285  ;  dislike  for  public 
dinners,  286 ;  visit  to  Clay, 
286;  relations  with  Web- 
ster, 288;  relations  with 
Clay,  294 ;  opposes  payment 
of  state  debts,  298 ;  uses  up 
fortune,  300 ;  some  character- 
istics of,  301  ;  death  of  sons, 
marriage  of  daughters,  302  ; 
his  love  for  the  West,  and 
especially  for  Oregon,  307 ; 
views  on  Texas  annexation, 
310;  his  egotism,  315;  his 
scholarship,  316 ;  literary 
work,  322 ;  weak  throat, 
328 ;  extracts  from  his 
speeches,   330;    last    years, 


343;  religious  views,  343; 

death,    344;    funeral,    345; 

final  estimate  of,  346. 
Bell,  John,  a  senator,  249. 
Berrien,  John  M.,  a  senator, 

249. 
Biddle,  Nicholas,  president  of 

National  Bank,  150 ;  attacks 

Jackson,  153. 
Blair,    Francis    P.,   edits  the 

Glohe,  103. 
Boone,  son  of  Daniel,  nomi- 
nates Benton  for  senate,  35. 
Buchanan,  James,  mentioned, 

200;  Benton's  relatione 

with,  290. 
Butler,  Andrew  P.,  a  senator, 

249. 

Canadian  Boundaby,  dis- 
cussed, 194, 

Calhoun,  John  C,  candidate 
for  presidency,  41 ;  vice- 
president,  65;  nullification 
views  of,  73 ;  change  in  po- 
litical views  of,  75 ;  aspires 
to  presidency,  81 ;  defends 
nullification,  99  ;  war  on  by 
Jackson,  101,  104;  opposes 
tariff  of  1832,  117 ;  agrees  to 
compromise,  123 ;  attacks 
Van  Buren,  216  ;  works  for 
Texas  annexation,  224 ;  re- 
ply to  Lord  Aberdeen,  226  ; 
last  appearance  in  the  Sen- 
ate, 247;  last  speech,  257; 
death,  260 ;  reference  to, 
250,  251,  264,  323,  324 ;  at- 
tacks Benton,  276. 

California,  explored  by  Fre- 
mont, 240 ;  applies  for  ad- 
mission, 245  ;  Benton  favors 
admission  of,  250,  252 ;  ad- 
mitted, 264. 


INDEX 


355 


Caroline  Affair,  195. 
Carroll,  General  William,  duel 
with     Jesse     Benton,     22, 
303. 
Cass,  Lewis,  presidential  can- 
didate, 243  ;  a  senator,  249. 
Chase,  Salmon  P.,  mentioned, 

248. 
Chicago    desires   railway  ter- 
minus, 273. 
Cilley,  Jonathan,  see   Graves- 

Cilley  duel. 
Clay,  Henry,  presidential  can- 
didate,   43 ;    quarrels   with 
Adams,  43  ;  favored  by  Ben- 
ton for  president,    55;    re- 
lated by  marriage  to  Benton, 
55 ;   supports    Adams,    57 ; 
Secretary    of      State,     57; 
"corrupt    bargain"   story, 
57;   supported  by   Benton, 
59;    duel    with    Randolph, 
64;    supports    Adams,    65; 
effects  Compromise  of 
1832-3,  121 ;  summoned  by 
Webster  to  Senate,  138  ;  de- 
preciates Benton,  138 ;  bank 
policy  of,  142  ;  attacks  Ben- 
ton,   145 ;    secures    Senate 
censure    of    Jackson,    155 ; 
attacks     Jackson's    pocket 
veto  of    land  surplus  bill, 
187 ;  favors  land  surplus  dis- 
tribution, 187 ;  loses  nomina- 
tion in  1840, 193  ;  loses  nom- 
ination in   1848,  242;   last 
election  to  the  Senate,  247  ; 
Compromises  of  1850,  252 ; 
last  great  orations,  252 ;  al- 
tercation with  Benton,  261 ; 
disgust  over  failure  of  first 
attempt  at  Compromises  of 
1850,    264;    likes    dinners, 
286;  Benton's  relations 


with,  294;  the  Raleigh  and 
Alabama  letters  of,  310. 

Clay,  James  B.,  Benton  pre- 
vents duel  of,  293. 

Clayton,  John  M.,  senator, 
part  in  Compromise  of  1833, 
130. 

Clayton,  of  Georgia,  repre- 
sentative, supports  Benton, 
139. 

Cobb,  Howell,  elected  speaker, 
246. 

Compromises,  Missouri,  33 ; 
of  1832-3,  122;  of  1850, 
255  (whole  chapter)  ;  see 
also  Missouri  Compromise. 

Consumption,  Benton's  cure 
for,  18. 

"Corrupt  Bargain,"  origin  of 
phrase,  57. 

Corwin,  Thomas,  mentioned, 
248. 

Cotton  in  politics,  75,  112. 

Cotton  planting  in  Tennessee, 
19. 

Crawford,  William  H.,  candi- 
date for  presidency,  41,  42  ; 
land  policy  of,  47. 

Gushing,  Caleb,  disliked  by 
Benton,  198. 


Davis,  Jeffeeson,  on  nulli- 
fication, 76  ;  a  senator,  248 ; 
on  extension  of  Missouri 
Compromise,  265. 

Davis,  John,  a  senator,  249. 

Distribution  of  land  surplus, 
see  Land  Surplus. 

Dodge,  Augustus  Csesar,  a 
senator.  249. 

Dodge,  Henry,  a  senator,  249. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  men- 
tioned, 248. 


356 


im)EX 


Dred  Scott  Decision,  Benton's 
book  on,  3'J6. 

Duane,  William  J.,  Secretary 
of  Treasury,  150  ;  dismissed, 
152. 

Duels,  Jesse  Benton  and  Jack- 
son, 22;  Thomas  H.  Ben- 
ton with  Lucas,  25  ;  between 
Clay  and  Randolph,  64 ; 
Benton's  views  on,  apropos 
of  Graves-Cilley  meeting, 
292 ;  prevents  James  B. 
Clay  from  fighting  a  duel, 
293. 


Eaton,  Mrs.  John  H.,  so- 
cially ostracized.  100. 

Enquirer,  The  jMissouri,  edited 
by  Benton,  23,  327. 

Expunging  Resolution,  intro- 
duced, 157;  passed,  160. 

Faneuil  Hall,  Benton 
speaks  in,  328. 

Fenian  outbreak,  mentioned, 
195. 

"  Fifty-four  Forty  or  Fight," 
campaign  slogan,  205. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  president, 
263. 

Foote,  Henry  S.,  assaults  Ben- 
ton, 261. 

Foot  Resolution  debated  and 
buried,  83-98,  336. 

Foot,  Senator,  offers  resolution 
concerning  land  sales,  83. 

Force  Bill,  passed,  133. 

Fremont,  John  C,  marries 
Jessie  Benton,  209  ;  explo- 
rations of,  211 ;  in  Cali- 
fornia. 240 ;  a  senator,  263  ; 
tells  Benton  about  Oregon, 
272 ;  reputed  wealth,  300. 


Friends,  The,  in  anti-slavery 
work,  212. 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  intro- 
duced by  Clay,  252. 

Funeral  of  Benton,  345. 

Globe,  The,  administration  or- 
gan, 103;  written  for  by 
Benton,  167,  327. 

Gold  Standard,  see  Specie 
Standard. 

Graves-Cilley  duel  described, 
292. 

Green,  Duff,  editor  of  the 
Telegraph,  103. 

Habits  of  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
24. 

Haiti,  our  relations  with,  63, 
332. 

Hale,  John  P.,  a  senator,  249. 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  a  senator, 
249. 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  in 
army,  20 ;  elected  president, 
193 ;  dies,  194. 

Hart,  Colonel  Thomas,  uncle 
of  Benton's  mother,  296. 

Hartford  Convention,  men- 
tioned, 89. 

Hayne,  Robert,  mentioned, 
73  ;  speech  on  Foot  Resolu- 
tion, 87 ;  relations  with 
Benton,  287,  338. 

Houston,  Samuel,  corporal 
under  Benton,  21 ;  in  Texas, 
222 ;  a  senator,  248 ;  op- 
poses Compromises  of  1850, 
263. 

Hunter,  Robert  M.  T.,  a  sen- 
ator, 249. 

Indian  Trail,  near  Benton 
settlement,  17. 


im)EX 


357 


Internal  improvements,  Ben- 
ton's view  of,  50-54 ;  men- 
tioned    in     letter    to    Van 


Jackson,  Andrew,  Benton's 
first  meeting  with,  20 ; 
elected  major-general  of  mi- 
litia, 20 ;  quarrel  with  Jesse 
and  Thomas  Benton,  22  ; 
candidate  for  president,  43  ; 
elected  to  the  Senate,  55 ; 
reconciled  to  Benton,  56  ; 
elected  president,  65  ;  sup- 
ported by  Benton,  68 ;  re- 
tains General  Miller,  70  ; 
some  characteristics  of,  74  ; 
disconcerts  Calhoun  and  the 
nullifiers,  99 ;  war  on  Cal- 
houn, 101  ;  against  nulli- 
fication, 119  ;  threat  to  hang 
Calhoun,  120  ;  pocket  vetoes 
land  surplus  bill,  133  ;  fights 
the  National  Bank,  134  (all 
of  chapter)  ;  vetoes  bank  re- 
charter,  144  ;  signs  tariff 
bill,  144  ;  has  deposits  re- 
moved from  National  Bank, 
152  ,•  censured  by  Senate, 
155  ;  signs  specie  circular, 
175  ;  retires,  178  ;  favors 
Texas  annexation,  225  ;  re- 
lations with  Benton,  285. 

Jackson,  Claiborne  F.,  reso- 
lutions of,  276,  313. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  Benton's 
visit  to,  284. 

Johnson,  Eichard  M.,  on  bank 
committee,  141. 

Kansas  City,  future  pre- 
dicted by  Benton,  273. 

Kendall,  Amos  P.,  in  Kitchen 
Cabinet,  151. 


King,  Rufus,  advice  to  Ben- 
ton, 59  ;  remarks  on  mon- 
archy, 296. 

King,  William  R.,  a  senator, 
249. 

Kitchen  Cabinet,  of  Jackson, 
101. 

Know  Nothings,  opposed  by 
Benton,  278,  281,  305. 

Kremer,  Congressman,  charges 
Clay  with  "corrupt  bar- 
gain," 58. 

Land  sales,  favored  by  Ben- 
ton, 46  ;  opposed  by  New 
England,  82  ;  speculation  in 
with  depreciated  currency, 
174  ;  cheap  prices  for,  185. 

Land  surplus  distribution, 
mentioned,  68  ;  pocket  ve- 
toed, 132,  187  ;  passed,  189. 

Land  survey,  importance  of, 
84. 

LeDuc,  Marie  Philip,  supports 
Benton,  36. 

Lewis  and  Clark  expedition, 
29. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  mentioned, 
249. 

Lind,  Jenny,  Benton  goes  to 
hear,  299. 

Linn,  Dr.,  senator  from  Mis- 
souri. 308. 

Literary  works  of  Benton, 
322. 

Lucas,  Charles,  killed  by 
Benton  in  duel,  25. 

Macon,    Nathaniel,  friend 

of  Benton,  60,  284. 
Madison,  James,  on  National 

Bank,    171  ;    on    secession, 

221. 


358 


INDEX 


Maine,  admitted  as  a  free 
State,  33  ;  frontier  dispute, 
194. 

Mason,  James  M.,  a  senator, 
249. 

Massachusetts,  defended  by- 
Webster,  93. 

McDowell,  Elizabeth,  marries 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  39. 

McDuffie,  Chairman,  favors 
bank,  140. 

Mexican  War,  231  (whole 
chapter)  ;  Benton's  policy 
on,  237. 

Mexico,  position  as  to  Texas, 
227. 

Michigan  admitted,  218. 

Miller,  General,  retained  by 
Jackson,  70. 

Mintage  laws,  new,  secured  by 
Benton,  172. 

Mississippi  River,  improve- 
ment of  favored  by  Benton, 
52. 

Missouri  Compromise,  passed, 
33;  attacked  by  Calhoun, 
126 ;  attempt  to  extend, 
264  ;  repeal  of,  279. 

Missouri,  early  history  of,  28  ; 
contest  over  admission,  30 ; 
early  population  of,  33 ; 
Benton's  view  of,  34 ;  boun- 
daries extended,  217 ;  on 
the  slavery  issue,  276  ;  hon- 
ors Benton  in  death,  344. 

Missouri  River,  improvement 
of  favored  by  Benton ,  52, 

Monroe  Doctrine,  Adams's 
views  on.  62 ;  Benton's 
views  on,  62. 

Monroe,  James,  president,  40. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  men- 
tioned, 17  ;  bar  of,  19. 


National  Bank,  mentioned, 
68,  108 ;  Jackson's  war  on, 
134  (all  of  chapter)  ;  re- 
charter  vetoed,  144 ;  de- 
posits removed,  152 ;  fails, 
163 ;  recharter  and  panic, 
179;  Benton's  description  of 
its  downfall,  340. 

Negro,  see  Slavery. 

New  England,  dissatisfaction 
over  defeat  of  Adams,  66 ; 
emigration  from,  82  ;  op- 
poses land  sales,  83  ;  in  War 
of  1812,  89;  thrift  in,  113. 

New  Mexico,  road  to  advo- 
cated by  Benton,  48 ;  as  a 
territory,  251,  252. 

North  Carolina,  birthplace  of 
Benton,  16. 

Nullification,  mentioned,  68 ; 
Benton's  first  contact  with, 
73 ;  called  absurd  by  Jeffer- 
son Davis,  76 ;  Hayne's 
speeches  on,  and  Webster's 
reply,  87-95;  upheld  by 
Calhoun,  99  ;  in  South  Car- 
olina, 111.  118;  opposed  by 
Jackson,  119. 

"Old  Bullion,"  nickname 

of  Benton,  169,  177. 
"  Old  Humbug,"  nickname  of 

Benton,  184. 
Oregon,    Benton's    views    on, 

48  ;  boundary  dispute,  195  ; 

negotiations  over,  205. 

Panama  Congress,  discussed 

in  Senate,  61. 
Panic  of  1837,  described,  179. 
"Peacemaker,"    explosion  of 

gun,  201. 
Pierce,    Franklin,    president, 

280. 


INDEX 


359 


Pocket  veto  of  land  surplus 
distribution  by  Jackson, 
133,  187. 

Polk,  James  K.,  nominated, 
205 ;  on  Oregon,  206 ;  on 
Texas  annexation,  229  ;  war 
message,  235;  adopts  Ben- 
ton's policy,  237. 

Princeton,  The,  U.  S.  S.,  Ben- 
ton injured  on,  201. 

Railways,  Benton's  views 
on  in  relation  to  war,  197 ; 
and  to  trans-continental 
railway  plans,  269,  274. 

Raleigh  Letter,  The,  310. 

Randolph,  John,  furnishes 
Benton  family  tree,  15  ;  duel 
with  Clay,  64;  friendship 
of  Benton  for,  283. 

Recharter  of  National  Bank, 
see  National  Bank. 

Right  of  Petition,  Adams' 
battle  for,  219. 

St.  Louis,  Benton  removes  to, 
22;  branch  bank  at,  149, 
210;  desires  railway  termi- 
nus, 273;  monument  to 
Benton  in,  346. 

Salt,  Benton  against  monopoly 
of,  51. 

Santa  Anna,  General,  negoti- 
ations with,  232. 

Scott,  Winfield,  mentioned, 
21 ;  in  South  Carolina,  120  ; 
in  Mexican  War,  237,  240 ; 
defeated  for  presidency,  280. 

Secession,  talked  of,  221. 

Senate,  U.  S.,  Benton  elected 
to,  36 ;  re-elections,  37. 

Seward,  W.  H.,  a  senator, 
248. 


Shieldg,  James,  a  senator,  249. 
Slavery,  in  Missouri,  38;  de- 
fended by  Benton,  38; 
gradual  emancipation  fa- 
vored by  Benton,  79;  op- 
posed to  slavery,  256,  298. 

Slavery  in  politics,  75,  116; 
connection  with  Texas  an- 
nexation, 212;  as  to  seces- 
sion, 221;  Lord  Aberdeen's 
views,  and  Calhoun's  reply, 
226. 

Slaves,  owned  by  Mrs.  Ben- 
ton, 17;  Benton  gets  jury 
trial  for  in  Tennessee,  23; 
Southern  view  of,  78. 

Slave  Trade,  Benton's  views 
on,  196;  in  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, 251,  252;  speech 
on,  339. 

Somers,  alleged  mutiny  on,  in- 
vestigated by  Benton,  305. 

Soule,  Pierre,  a  senator,  249. 

South  Carolina,  praised  by 
Webster,  93;  passes  ordi- 
nance of  nullification,  118, 
214. 

Specie  Circular,  written  by 
Benton,  175,  180. 

Specie  standard,  mentioned, 
68 ;  favored  by  Benton,  169, 
178. 

Spencer,  see  Somers. 

Sumner,  Charles,  welcomed  by 
Benton,  279 ;  mentioned, 
348. 

Taney,  Rogkb  B.,  removes 
deposits,  152 ;  triumvirate 
defeat  and  confirmation  of 
appointment  as  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  159. 

Tappan,  Arthur,  dines  with 
negroes  (as  reported),  80. 


360 


DsDEX 


Tariff,  mentioned,  68,  108;  in 
nullification  affair,  111; 
cjompromise  tariff,  123 ;  tar- 
iff of  1832,  signed  by  Jack- 
son, 144;  vetoed  by  Tyler, 
199. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  mentioned, 
21,  132;  in  Mexican  War, 
235;  candidate  for  presi- 
dency, 238  ;  president,  255 ; 
death,  263. 

Telegraphy  ITie,  official  organ, 
102. 

Telegraph,  electric,  Benton's 
views  on,  197. 

Tennessee,  lands  in,  owned  by 
Jesse  Benton,  16 ;  carried 
by  Whigs,  193. 

Texas,  Benton's  views  on  loss 
of,  48 ;  Calhoun's  early  po- 
sition as  to,  127 ;  agitation 
over  slavery,  212 ;  Houston 
in,  222 ;  annexation  sug- 
gested, 223 ;  rumor  that 
Great  Britain  desired  it, 
224;  claimed  by  Mexico, 
227 ;  Walker's  compromise, 
229 ;  action  of  Tyler  on,  230; 
claims  to  territory,  251,  252; 
Benton's  views  on  in  1844, 
310. 

Triumvirate,  mentioned,  68, 
105,  157,  158,  160,  247,  281. 

Tryon,  Governor,  mentioned, 
15. 

Tyler,  John,  becomes  presi- 
dent, 194 ;  supported  by 
Benton,  199 ;  defeated  for 
nomination,  204;  on  Texas 
annexation.  230 ;  views  on 
Oregon,  308. 

Union,  The,  Democratic  news- 
paper, 208. 


Utah,  in  Compromises  of  1850, 
251,  252,  264. 

Van  Bubex,  Maetin,  men- 
tioned, 68  ;  as  Secretary  of 
State  kind  to  Mrs.  Eaton, 
100 ;  sent  to  England  as 
Minister,  101 ;  opposed  by 
triumvirate,  105 ;  A'ice- 
President,  107 ;  snubs  Ben- 
ton, 179;  president,  179; 
defeated  for  re-election,  193 ; 
defeated  for  nomination, 
204;  trick  played  on  by 
triumvirate,  216;  Free  Soil 
candidate,  243 ;  Benton's 
fondness  for,  288. 

W^ALKEE,  Sexatoe,  Compro- 
mise on  Texas,  228. 

W'ebb,  James  Watson,  chal- 
lenges Cilley,  292. 

Webster,  Daniel,  speech  on 
Foot  Resolution,  and  reply 
to  Hayne,  85,  88-95;  op- 
poses Compromise  of  1832-3, 
125 ;  favors  National  Bank, 
138  ;  writes  to  Clay  to  come 
to  Senate,  138;  modified 
bank  bill,  158;  dealings 
with  Lord  Ashburton,  194; 
in  Supreme  Court  practice, 
247;  Seventh  of  March 
Speech,  260  ;  relations  with 
Benton,  288;  attitude  in 
Oregon  case,  308. 

West  Point  Academy,  opposed 
by  Benton,  72.  197. 

Whig  Party,  opposes  Jackson's 
polic}',  179;  carries  Tennes- 
see, 193;  elects  Harrison 
president,  193. 

White,  Hugh  L.,  a  senator, 
289. 


IKDEX  361 

Whitman,     Marcus,    trip    to  never  passed,  241 ;  proviso 

Washington,  308.  mentioned,  251. 

Wilmot,    David,    member    of  Winchester,  General,  in  army, 

Congress  offers  proviso,  233 ;  20. 


Library  of 
Hugh    T.    Leffer 


